I have two questions regarding usage of the contourf plotting function. I have been searching for answers but haven't found them. In the contourf function, there is a variable named cmap . What is this used for and what is its meaning? And what is cmap=cm.jet mean? When one puts x,y,z into contourf and then creates a colorbar, how do we get the minimum and maximum values by which to set the colorbar limits? I am doing it manually now, but is there no way to get the min and max directly from a contourf handle?

Meaning of cmap in contourf

I have two questions regarding usage of the contourf plotting function. I have been searching for answers but haven't found them.

In the contourf function, there is a variable named cmap. What is this used for and what is its meaning? And what is cmap=cm.jet mean?
When one puts x,y,z into contourf and then creates a colorbar, how do we get the minimum and maximum values by which to set the colorbar limits? I am doing it manually now, but is there no way to get the min and max directly from a contourf handle?