Dropping Columns from a Pandas DataFrame Based on Their Name
Working with data is a critical part of any data scientist or analyst’s work. As datasets continue to grow, it becomes necessary to filter data and extract insights.
The pandas library in Python provides an excellent platform for data manipulation and analysis. One of the essential functionalities of pandas is the ability to drop columns from a DataFrame.
In this article, we will explore different ways of dropping columns from a pandas DataFrame based on their name.
Method 1: Drop Columns if Name Contains Specific String
Sometimes you may want to remove specific columns from a DataFrame based on their name.
The most common way is to drop columns if their names contain a specific string. For instance, let’s assume we have a DataFrame with columns named ‘Age,’ ‘Salary,’ ‘Gender,’ and ‘Address.’ If we want to remove columns that contain the string ‘Age,’ we can use regular expression (regex) to achieve that.
To drop columns that contain the string ‘Age’, we can use the code below:
import pandas as pd
# Sample DataFrame
data = {'Age': [21, 32, 25, 28],
'Salary': [50000, 70000, 60000, 55000],
'Gender': ['M', 'F', 'M', 'F'],
'Address': ['NY', 'CA', 'TX', 'FL']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
# Dropping columns using .filter() method
df = df.filter(regex=r'^((?!Age).)*$')
The filter() method is used with the regex parameter to drop columns that do not contain the string “Age”. The ^ and $ symbols represent the beginning and end of the string, respectively.
The ?! symbol is a negative lookahead, which means we are looking for anything that is not the string ‘Age’.
Method 2: Drop Columns if Name Contains One of Several Specific Strings
Another essential function of pandas is to drop columns that contain one of several specific strings.
This is useful when we want to remove many columns containing different specified strings. In the following example, we drop columns that contain the strings “Age” or “Salary”:
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
# Dropping columns containing either "Age" or "Salary"
df = df[df.columns.drop(list(df.filter(regex='Age|Salary')))]
In this method, filter is used to search for columns that contain either ‘Age’ or ‘Salary’.
The drop method then removes all the columns with these strings. Finally, we use list to convert the columns to a list so that they can be dropped from the original DataFrame.
Example 1: Dropping Columns if Name Contains Specific String
Let’s use the dataset from before and assume we want to drop columns containing the string “Age.” We can achieve that using the following code:
import pandas as pd
# Sample DataFrame
data = {'Age': [21, 32, 25, 28],
'Salary': [50000, 70000, 60000, 55000],
'Gender': ['M', 'F', 'M', 'F'],
'Address': ['NY', 'CA', 'TX', 'FL']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
# Dropping columns containing "Age"
df = df[[col for col in df.columns if 'Age' not in col]]
In this example, we perform a list comprehension to check if the string ‘Age’ is not in each column name. Once we have a list of columns that we want to keep, we create a new DataFrame containing only those columns.
Example 2: Drop Columns if Name Contains One of Several Specific Strings
To illustrate the second method of dropping columns from a pandas DataFrame based on their name, we will use the same sample data that we used in the previous example. However, this time around, we will drop columns containing either “Age” or “Salary”.
import pandas as pd
# Sample DataFrame
data = {'Age': [21, 32, 25, 28], 'Salary': [50000, 70000, 60000, 55000], 'Gender': ['M', 'F', 'M', 'F'], 'Address': ['NY', 'CA', 'TX', 'FL']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
# Dropping columns containing either "Age" or "Salary"
df = df[df.columns.drop(list(df.filter(regex='Age|Salary')))]
print(df)
The output of this code will be:
Gender Address
0 M NY
1 F CA
2 M TX
3 F FL
In this example, we first use the filter() method to select columns that contain either “Age” or “Salary”. We then use the drop() method to remove the selected columns.
Finally, we print the resulting DataFrame that only contains the remaining columns.
Additional Resources
Learning to work with pandas can be a valuable skill in data analysis, and there are plenty of excellent resources available online. Some of the best resources include tutorials, documentation, and community forums.
One of the most comprehensive tutorials on pandas is the official pandas documentation. It provides a step-by-step guide and in-depth coverage of the library’s features, including how to load data into a DataFrame, cleaning and preprocessing datasets, filtering data, and more.
The documentation is available at https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/. For those looking for a more interactive and practical approach, datacamp.com offers a pandas tutorial for beginners.
The tutorial includes practical examples and interactive exercises to help learners get familiar with pandas. The course is available at https://www.datacamp.com/courses/pandas-foundations.
Stack Overflow is a great resource for pandas-related questions and problems. The community forum is home to thousands of pandas questions and answers, making it a great place to ask for help or find solutions to your problems.
The forum is available at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/pandas.
Conclusion
In conclusion, dropping columns from a pandas DataFrame based on their name is an essential data filtering skill. By using the two methods provided, data scientists and analysts can filter out unnecessary columns and extract valuable insights from datasets.
The pandas documentation, datacamp.com, and Stack Overflow are excellent resources for learning and troubleshooting pandas-related issues. In conclusion, pandas is an excellent library for data manipulation and analysis, and the ability to drop columns from a DataFrame based on their name is a crucial skill for data scientists and analysts.
We have explored two methods of achieving this: dropping columns if their names contain a specific string and dropping columns if their names contain one of several specific strings. By mastering these methods, we can filter out unnecessary data and extract valuable insights from datasets.
Resources such as the pandas documentation, datacamp.com, and Stack Overflow provide ample opportunities for learning and troubleshooting. In summary, mastering the art of dropping columns in pandas is a valuable skill that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your data analysis endeavors.