Bar

Bars are the right default for comparing a numeric value across discrete categories. Use Plot.barY when categories sit on the x-axis and the bar grows up; Plot.barX when categories sit on the y-axis (better for long labels).

Vertical bars

```plot view=monthly_revenue
Plot.barY(data, { x: "month", y: "revenue", fill: "currency" })
```

Horizontal bars (ranked categories)

```plot view=top_customers
Plot.barX(data, { x: "revenue", y: "name", sort: { y: "x", reverse: true } })
```

Stacked

Default behaviour when you pass a fill channel with overlapping x values — Plot stacks them.

```plot view=monthly_revenue_by_region
Plot.barY(data, { x: "month", y: "revenue", fill: "region" })
```

Common options

Option	Meaning
x, y	column names (one categorical, one numeric)
fill	column name → grouping/stacking
stroke	column name → border color
sort	{ y: "x", reverse: true } to sort the y axis by the x value
tip	true for hover tooltips, or { format: ... } for custom
dx, dy	offset bars (rarely needed)
inset	shrink each bar by N pixels for a gap
mixBlendMode	"multiply" for nicer overlap colors

See Observable Plot — bar for the full reference.