A violin plot combines a boxplot with a mirrored density plot on each side. This allows viewers to see both summary statistics and the distribution shape in one compact form.
This chart is useful when the underlying distribution is not normal or symmetric. For instance, if you’re comparing salary distributions across departments, a violin plot can reveal bimodality or skewness that a simple boxplot might obscure. The boxplot elements (median, quartiles) remain visible, while the density shape adds richer context.
Violin plots are often used in advanced analytics, scientific visualization, and machine learning to assess group-level differences and data distribution nuances.