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10 minutes to pandas

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10 minutes to pandas


This is a short introduction to pandas, geared mainly for new users. You can see more complex recipes in the :ref:Cookbook<cookbook>.

Customarily, we import as follows:

.. ipython:: python

import numpy as np import pandas as pd

Basic data structures in pandas

pandas provides two types of classes for handling data:

  1. :class:Series: a one-dimensional labeled array holding data of any type such as integers, strings, Python objects etc.
  2. :class:DataFrame: a two-dimensional data structure that holds data like a two-dimension array or a table with rows and columns.

Object creation

See the :ref:Intro to data structures section <dsintro>.

Creating a :class:Series by passing a list of values, letting pandas create a default :class:RangeIndex.

.. ipython:: python

s = pd.Series([1, 3, 5, np.nan, 6, 8]) s

Creating a :class:DataFrame by passing a NumPy array with a datetime index using :func:date_range and labeled columns:

.. ipython:: python

dates = pd.date_range("20130101", periods=6) dates df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(6, 4), index=dates, columns=list("ABCD")) df

Creating a :class:DataFrame by passing a dictionary of objects where the keys are the column labels and the values are the column values.

.. ipython:: python

df2 = pd.DataFrame( { "A": 1.0, "B": pd.Timestamp("20130102"), "C": pd.Series(1, index=list(range(4)), dtype="float32"), "D": np.array([3] * 4, dtype="int32"), "E": pd.Categorical(["test", "train", "test", "train"]), "F": "foo", } ) df2

The columns of the resulting :class:DataFrame have different :ref:dtypes <basics.dtypes>:

.. ipython:: python

df2.dtypes

If you're using IPython, tab completion for column names (as well as public attributes) is automatically enabled. Here's a subset of the attributes that will be completed:

.. ipython::

@verbatim In [1]: df2.<TAB> # noqa: E225, E999 df2.A df2.bool df2.abs df2.boxplot df2.add df2.C df2.add_prefix df2.clip df2.add_suffix df2.columns df2.align df2.copy df2.all df2.count df2.any df2.combine df2.append df2.D df2.apply df2.describe df2.B df2.duplicated df2.diff

As you can see, the columns A, B, C, and D are automatically tab completed. E and F are there as well; the rest of the attributes have been truncated for brevity.

Viewing data

See the :ref:Essential basic functionality section <basics>.

Use :meth:DataFrame.head and :meth:DataFrame.tail to view the top and bottom rows of the frame respectively:

.. ipython:: python

df.head() df.tail(3)

Display the :attr:DataFrame.index or :attr:DataFrame.columns:

.. ipython:: python

df.index df.columns

Return a NumPy representation of the underlying data with :meth:DataFrame.to_numpy without the index or column labels:

.. ipython:: python

df.to_numpy()

.. note::

NumPy arrays have one dtype for the entire array while pandas DataFrames have one dtype per column. When you call :meth:DataFrame.to_numpy, pandas will find the NumPy dtype that can hold all of the dtypes in the DataFrame. If the common data type is object, :meth:DataFrame.to_numpy will require copying data.

.. ipython:: python

  df2.dtypes
  df2.to_numpy()

:func:~DataFrame.describe shows a quick statistic summary of your data:

.. ipython:: python

df.describe()

Transposing your data:

.. ipython:: python

df.T

:meth:DataFrame.sort_index sorts by an axis:

.. ipython:: python

df.sort_index(axis=1, ascending=False)

:meth:DataFrame.sort_values sorts by values:

.. ipython:: python

df.sort_values(by="B")

Selection

.. note::

While standard Python / NumPy expressions for selecting and setting are intuitive and come in handy for interactive work, for production code, we recommend the optimized pandas data access methods, :meth:DataFrame.at, :meth:DataFrame.iat, :meth:DataFrame.loc and :meth:DataFrame.iloc.

See the indexing documentation :ref:Indexing and Selecting Data <indexing> and :ref:MultiIndex / Advanced Indexing <advanced>.

Getitem ([])


For a :class:`DataFrame`, passing a single label selects a column and
yields a :class:`Series`:

.. ipython:: python

   df["A"]

If the label only contains letters, numbers, and underscores, you can
alternatively use the column name attribute:

.. ipython:: python

   df.A

Passing a list of column labels selects multiple columns, which can be useful
for getting a subset/rearranging:

.. ipython:: python

   df[["B", "A"]]

For a :class:`DataFrame`, passing a slice ``:`` selects matching rows:

.. ipython:: python

   df[0:3]
   df["20130102":"20130104"]

Selection by label

See more in :ref:Selection by Label <indexing.label> using :meth:DataFrame.loc or :meth:DataFrame.at.

Selecting a row matching a label:

.. ipython:: python

df.loc[dates[0]]

Selecting all rows (:) with a select column labels:

.. ipython:: python

df.loc[:, ["A", "B"]]

For label slicing, both endpoints are included:

.. ipython:: python

df.loc["20130102":"20130104", ["A", "B"]]

Selecting a single row and column label returns a scalar:

.. ipython:: python

df.loc[dates[0], "A"]

For getting fast access to a scalar (equivalent to the prior method):

.. ipython:: python

df.at[dates[0], "A"]

Selection by position


See more in :ref:`Selection by Position <indexing.integer>` using :meth:`DataFrame.iloc` or :meth:`DataFrame.iat`.

Select via the position of the passed integers:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[3]

Integer slices acts similar to NumPy/Python:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[3:5, 0:2]

Lists of integer position locations:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[[1, 2, 4], [0, 2]]

For slicing rows explicitly:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[1:3, :]

For slicing columns explicitly:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[:, 1:3]

For getting a value explicitly:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iloc[1, 1]

For getting fast access to a scalar (equivalent to the prior method):

.. ipython:: python

   df.iat[1, 1]

Boolean indexing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Select rows where ``df.A`` is greater than ``0``.

.. ipython:: python

   df[df["A"] > 0]

Selecting values from a :class:`DataFrame` where a boolean condition is met:

.. ipython:: python

   df[df > 0]

Using :func:`~Series.isin` method for filtering:

.. ipython:: python

   df2 = df.copy()
   df2["E"] = ["one", "one", "two", "three", "four", "three"]
   df2
   df2[df2["E"].isin(["two", "four"])]

Setting
~~~~~~~

Setting a new column automatically aligns the data by the indexes:

.. ipython:: python

   s1 = pd.Series(
      [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6],
      index=pd.date_range("20130102", periods=6))
   s1
   df["F"] = s1

Setting values by label:

.. ipython:: python

   df.at[dates[0], "A"] = 0

Setting values by position:

.. ipython:: python

   df.iat[0, 1] = 0

Setting by assigning with a NumPy array:

.. ipython:: python
   :okwarning:

   df.loc[:, "D"] = np.array([5] * len(df))

The result of the prior setting operations:

.. ipython:: python

   df

A ``where`` operation with setting:

.. ipython:: python

   df2 = df.copy()
   df2[df2 > 0] = -df2
   df2


Missing data
------------

For NumPy data types, ``np.nan`` represents missing data. It is by
default not included in computations. See the :ref:`Missing Data section
<missing_data>`.

Reindexing allows you to change/add/delete the index on a specified axis. This
returns a copy of the data:

.. ipython:: python

   df1 = df.reindex(index=dates[0:4], columns=list(df.columns) + ["E"])
   df1.loc[dates[0] : dates[1], "E"] = 1
   df1

:meth:`DataFrame.dropna` drops any rows that have missing data:

.. ipython:: python

   df1.dropna(how="any")

:meth:`DataFrame.fillna` fills missing data:

.. ipython:: python

   df1.fillna(value=5)

:func:`isna` gets the boolean mask where values are ``nan``:

.. ipython:: python

   pd.isna(df1)


Operations
----------

See the :ref:`Basic section on Binary Ops <basics.binop>`.

Stats
~~~~~

Operations in general *exclude* missing data.

Calculate the mean value for each column:

.. ipython:: python

   df.mean()

Calculate the mean value for each row:

.. ipython:: python

   df.mean(axis=1)

Operating with another :class:`Series` or :class:`DataFrame` with a different index or column
will align the result with the union of the index or column labels. In addition, pandas
automatically broadcasts along the specified dimension and will fill unaligned labels with ``np.nan``.

.. ipython:: python

   s = pd.Series([1, 3, 5, np.nan, 6, 8], index=dates).shift(2)
   s
   df.sub(s, axis="index")


User defined functions

:meth:DataFrame.agg and :meth:DataFrame.transform applies a user defined function that reduces or broadcasts its result respectively.

.. ipython:: python

df.agg(lambda x: np.mean(x) * 5.6) df.transform(lambda x: x * 101.2)

Value Counts


See more at :ref:`Histogramming and Discretization <basics.discretization>`.

.. ipython:: python

   s = pd.Series(np.random.randint(0, 7, size=10))
   s
   s.value_counts()

String Methods

:class:Series is equipped with a set of string processing methods in the str attribute that make it easy to operate on each element of the array, as in the code snippet below. See more at :ref:Vectorized String Methods <text.string_methods>.

.. ipython:: python

s = pd.Series(["A", "B", "C", "Aaba", "Baca", np.nan, "CABA", "dog", "cat"]) s.str.lower()

Merge

Concat


pandas provides various facilities for easily combining together :class:`Series` and
:class:`DataFrame` objects with various kinds of set logic for the indexes
and relational algebra functionality in the case of join / merge-type
operations.

See the :ref:`Merging section <merging>`.

Concatenating pandas objects together row-wise with :func:`concat`:

.. ipython:: python

   df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(10, 4))
   df

   # break it into pieces
   pieces = [df[:3], df[3:7], df[7:]]

   pd.concat(pieces)

.. note::

   Adding a column to a :class:`DataFrame` is relatively fast. However, adding
   a row requires a copy, and may be expensive. We recommend passing a
   pre-built list of records to the :class:`DataFrame` constructor instead
   of building a :class:`DataFrame` by iteratively appending records to it.

Join
~~~~

:func:`merge` enables SQL style join types along specific columns. See the :ref:`Database style joining <merging.join>` section.

.. ipython:: python

   left = pd.DataFrame({"key": ["foo", "foo"], "lval": [1, 2]})
   right = pd.DataFrame({"key": ["foo", "foo"], "rval": [4, 5]})
   left
   right
   pd.merge(left, right, on="key")

:func:`merge` on unique keys:

.. ipython:: python

   left = pd.DataFrame({"key": ["foo", "bar"], "lval": [1, 2]})
   right = pd.DataFrame({"key": ["foo", "bar"], "rval": [4, 5]})
   left
   right
   pd.merge(left, right, on="key")

Grouping
--------

By "group by" we are referring to a process involving one or more of the
following steps:

* **Splitting** the data into groups based on some criteria
* **Applying** a function to each group independently
* **Combining** the results into a data structure

See the :ref:`Grouping section <groupby>`.

.. ipython:: python

   df = pd.DataFrame(
       {
           "A": ["foo", "bar", "foo", "bar", "foo", "bar", "foo", "foo"],
           "B": ["one", "one", "two", "three", "two", "two", "one", "three"],
           "C": np.random.randn(8),
           "D": np.random.randn(8),
       }
   )
   df

Grouping by a column label, selecting column labels, and then applying the
:meth:`.DataFrameGroupBy.sum` function to the resulting
groups:

.. ipython:: python

   df.groupby("A")[["C", "D"]].sum()

Grouping by multiple columns label forms :class:`MultiIndex`.

.. ipython:: python

   df.groupby(["A", "B"]).sum()

Reshaping
---------

See the sections on :ref:`Hierarchical Indexing <advanced.hierarchical>` and
:ref:`Reshaping <reshaping.stacking>`.

Stack
~~~~~

.. ipython:: python

   arrays = [
      ["bar", "bar", "baz", "baz", "foo", "foo", "qux", "qux"],
      ["one", "two", "one", "two", "one", "two", "one", "two"],
   ]
   index = pd.MultiIndex.from_arrays(arrays, names=["first", "second"])
   df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(8, 2), index=index, columns=["A", "B"])
   df2 = df[:4]
   df2

The :meth:`~DataFrame.stack` method "compresses" a level in the DataFrame's
columns:

.. ipython:: python

   stacked = df2.stack()
   stacked

With a "stacked" DataFrame or Series (having a :class:`MultiIndex` as the
``index``), the inverse operation of :meth:`~DataFrame.stack` is
:meth:`~DataFrame.unstack`, which by default unstacks the **last level**:

.. ipython:: python

   stacked.unstack()
   stacked.unstack(1)
   stacked.unstack(0)

Pivot tables

See the section on :ref:Pivot Tables <reshaping.pivot>.

.. ipython:: python

df = pd.DataFrame( { "A": ["one", "one", "two", "three"] * 3, "B": ["A", "B", "C"] * 4, "C": ["foo", "foo", "foo", "bar", "bar", "bar"] * 2, "D": np.random.randn(12), "E": np.random.randn(12), } ) df

:func:pivot_table pivots a :class:DataFrame specifying the values, index and columns

.. ipython:: python

pd.pivot_table(df, values="D", index=["A", "B"], columns=["C"])

Time series

pandas has simple, powerful, and efficient functionality for performing resampling operations during frequency conversion (e.g., converting secondly data into 5-minutely data). This is extremely common in, but not limited to, financial applications. See the :ref:Time Series section <timeseries>.

.. ipython:: python

rng = pd.date_range("1/1/2012", periods=100, freq="s") ts = pd.Series(np.random.randint(0, 500, len(rng)), index=rng) ts.resample("5Min").sum()

:meth:Series.tz_localize localizes a time series to a time zone:

.. ipython:: python

rng = pd.date_range("3/6/2012 00:00", periods=5, freq="D") ts = pd.Series(np.random.randn(len(rng)), rng) ts ts_utc = ts.tz_localize("UTC") ts_utc

:meth:Series.tz_convert converts a timezones aware time series to another time zone:

.. ipython:: python

ts_utc.tz_convert("US/Eastern")

Adding a non-fixed duration (:class:~pandas.tseries.offsets.BusinessDay) to a time series:

.. ipython:: python

rng rng + pd.offsets.BusinessDay(5)

Categoricals

pandas can include categorical data in a :class:DataFrame. For full docs, see the :ref:categorical introduction <categorical> and the :ref:API documentation <api.arrays.categorical>.

.. ipython:: python

df = pd.DataFrame(
    {"id": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], "raw_grade": ["a", "b", "b", "a", "a", "e"]}
)

Converting the raw grades to a categorical data type:

.. ipython:: python

df["grade"] = df["raw_grade"].astype("category")
df["grade"]

Rename the categories to more meaningful names:

.. ipython:: python

new_categories = ["very good", "good", "very bad"]
df["grade"] = df["grade"].cat.rename_categories(new_categories)

Reorder the categories and simultaneously add the missing categories (methods under :meth:Series.cat return a new :class:Series by default):

.. ipython:: python

df["grade"] = df["grade"].cat.set_categories(
    ["very bad", "bad", "medium", "good", "very good"]
)
df["grade"]

Sorting is per order in the categories, not lexical order:

.. ipython:: python

df.sort_values(by="grade")

Grouping by a categorical column with observed=False also shows empty categories:

.. ipython:: python

df.groupby("grade", observed=False).size()

Plotting

See the :ref:Plotting <visualization> docs.

We use the standard convention for referencing the matplotlib API:

.. ipython:: python

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.close("all")

The plt.close method is used to close <https://matplotlib.org/stable/api/_as_gen/matplotlib.pyplot.close.html>__ a figure window:

.. ipython:: python

ts = pd.Series(np.random.randn(1000), index=pd.date_range("1/1/2000", periods=1000)) ts = ts.cumsum()

@savefig series_plot_basic.png ts.plot();

.. note::

When using Jupyter, the plot will appear using :meth:~Series.plot. Otherwise use matplotlib.pyplot.show <https://matplotlib.org/stable/api/_as_gen/matplotlib.pyplot.show.html>__ to show it or matplotlib.pyplot.savefig <https://matplotlib.org/stable/api/_as_gen/matplotlib.pyplot.savefig.html>__ to write it to a file.

:meth:~DataFrame.plot plots all columns:

.. ipython:: python

df = pd.DataFrame( np.random.randn(1000, 4), index=ts.index, columns=["A", "B", "C", "D"] )

df = df.cumsum()

plt.figure(); df.plot(); @savefig frame_plot_basic.png plt.legend(loc='best');

Importing and exporting data

See the :ref:IO Tools <io> section.

CSV


:ref:`Writing to a csv file: <io.store_in_csv>` using :meth:`DataFrame.to_csv`

.. ipython:: python

   df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randint(0, 5, (10, 5)))
   df.to_csv("foo.csv")

:ref:`Reading from a csv file: <io.read_csv_table>` using :func:`read_csv`

.. ipython:: python

   pd.read_csv("foo.csv")

.. ipython:: python
   :suppress:

   import os

   os.remove("foo.csv")

Parquet

Writing to a Parquet file:

.. ipython:: python

df.to_parquet("foo.parquet")

Reading from a Parquet file Store using :func:read_parquet:

.. ipython:: python

pd.read_parquet("foo.parquet")

.. ipython:: python :suppress:

os.remove("foo.parquet")

Excel


Reading and writing to :ref:`Excel <io.excel>`.

Writing to an excel file using :meth:`DataFrame.to_excel`:

.. ipython:: python

   df.to_excel("foo.xlsx", sheet_name="Sheet1")

Reading from an excel file using :func:`read_excel`:

.. ipython:: python

   pd.read_excel("foo.xlsx", "Sheet1", index_col=None, na_values=["NA"])

.. ipython:: python
   :suppress:

   os.remove("foo.xlsx")

Gotchas
-------

If you are attempting to perform a boolean operation on a :class:`Series` or :class:`DataFrame`
you might see an exception like:

.. ipython:: python
   :okexcept:

    if pd.Series([False, True, False]):
        print("I was true")

See :ref:`Comparisons<basics.compare>` and :ref:`Gotchas<gotchas>` for an explanation and what to do.