Groupby() and transform() are two of the most powerful methods in pandas DataFrame that allow you to perform a wide range of data manipulation tasks. Whether you need to create a new column with mean or sum values or apply custom functions, these methods make it possible to achieve your goals quickly and easily.
In this article, we explore two key ways to use groupby() and transform(): using built-in functions and using custom functions. In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at each method and provide examples to illustrate their usage.
Using groupby() and transform() with Built-In Functions
One of the most common applications of groupby() and transform() is to create a new column with summary statistics such as mean or sum values. This is often useful when you want to visualize the distribution of a feature with respect to another categorical variable in your dataset.
For instance, let us assume our dataset has two columns: ‘Age’ and ‘Gender.’ If we wanted to create a new column called ‘Mean Age by Gender’ that shows the average age of each gender in the dataset, we would use the following code:
import pandas as pd
data = {'Age': [25, 30, 40, 19, 35, 28], 'Gender': ['M', 'F', 'M', 'F', 'F', 'M']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
df['Mean Age by Gender'] = df.groupby('Gender')['Age'].transform('mean')
print(df)
The output of the above code will be a new DataFrame that includes a new column ‘Mean Age by Gender’ showing the mean age:
Age Gender Mean Age by Gender
0 25 M 32
1 30 F 28
2 40 M 32
3 19 F 28
4 35 F 28
5 28 M 32
The above code takes advantage of the groupby() method to group the data by ‘Gender’. This created a separate group for each gender and applied the transform() method to the ‘Age’ column.
The transform() method then calculated the mean age for each group and returned a new series of the same length as the original DataFrame. The output of the transform() method was then assigned to a new column ‘Mean Age by Gender’, which was added to the original DataFrame.
Using groupby() and transform() with Custom Functions
While using built-in functions can be powerful, it might not always be sufficient to meet your requirements. Thus, you can use custom functions with groupby() and transform() to perform more complex transformations on your data.
To use custom functions, you need to define a function that takes a pandas Series object as input and returns a pandas Series object with the same length. Here is an example.
Let us assume you have a dataset of sales transactions that look like this:
import pandas as pd
data = {'Customer Name': ['ABC', 'XYZ', 'DEF', 'GHI', 'ABC', 'XYZ', 'DEF', 'GHI'],
'Transaction Amount': [100, 200, 150, 90, 80, 20, 120, 50]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
print(df)
This will output:
Customer Name Transaction Amount
0 ABC 100
1 XYZ 200
2 DEF 150
3 GHI 90
4 ABC 80
5 XYZ 20
6 DEF 120
7 GHI 50
Suppose you want to create a new column called ‘Normalized Transaction Amount’ that calculates the standardized transaction amount for each customer. To do this, you can use the following code:
def normalize(series):
return (series - series.mean()) / series.std()
df['Normalized Transaction Amount'] = df.groupby('Customer Name')['Transaction Amount'].transform(normalize)
print(df)
The output of the above code will be a new DataFrame that includes the new column ‘Normalized Transaction Amount’:
Customer Name Transaction Amount Normalized Transaction Amount
0 ABC 100 0.707107
1 XYZ 200 0.707107
2 DEF 150 0.707107
3 GHI 90 0.707107
4 ABC 80 -0.707107
5 XYZ 20 -0.707107
6 DEF 120 -0.707107
7 GHI 50 -0.707107
In the above code, we defined a custom function called ‘normalize’ that takes a pandas Series object as input and uses the mean and standard deviation to calculate the standardized values. The groupby() and transform() methods were then used to apply the normalization function to each group of customers, and the output of the transform() method was assigned to a new column called ‘Normalized Transaction Amount.’
Conclusion
In conclusion, groupby() and transform() are powerful tools in pandas DataFrame that can help you manipulate your data in meaningful ways. Whether you want to create a new column with summary statistics or apply custom functions to your data, these methods make it easy to perform complex data transformations efficiently.
By using built-in functions or custom functions, you can transform your data to meet your specific needs and take advantage of the full range of features and capabilities offered by pandas DataFrame. So the next time you want to perform data transformations on your datasets, remember to explore the power of groupby() and transform().
Example 2: Using groupby() and transform() with custom function
In addition to using built-in functions to perform data transformations, you can also define custom functions to apply more complex operations to your data. One example of this is calculating the percentage of points for each student in a class using groupby() and transform().
Suppose we have a DataFrame that contains information about a class of students, including their names, test scores, and the maximum possible score for each test. We want to calculate the percentage of points for each student for each test and add a new column to the DataFrame with this information.
Here’s how we can do it:
import pandas as pd
# create sample data
data = {'Name': ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Charlie', 'David', 'Eve'],
'Test': ['Test 1', 'Test 2', 'Test 1', 'Test 2', 'Test 1'],
'Score': [80, 90, 70, 85, 95],
'Max Score': [100, 100, 90, 90, 100]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
# define custom function to calculate percentage of points
def percentage_of_points(series):
return series / series.max() * 100
# apply custom function using groupby() and transform()
df['Percentage of Points'] = df.groupby('Name')['Score'].transform(percentage_of_points)
print(df)
The output of the code above will be a new DataFrame with the percentage of points for each student for each test:
Name Test Score Max Score Percentage of Points
0 Alice Test 1 80 100 80.000000
1 Bob Test 2 90 100 90.000000
2 Charlie Test 1 70 90 77.777778
3 David Test 2 85 90 94.444444
4 Eve Test 1 95 100 95.000000
In this example, we define a custom function called percentage_of_points that takes a pandas Series object as input and returns another pandas Series object with the same length. The custom function calculates the percentage of points for each score by dividing it by the maximum score for the corresponding test and then multiplying by 100.
We then use the groupby() and transform() methods to apply this custom function to each score for each student.
Additional Resources
If you’re new to pandas or want to learn more about common operations in pandas, there are numerous online resources available that can help you get started. Here are some recommended tutorials to check out:
- The pandas documentation provides a comprehensive user guide and a wide range of tutorials that cover everything from basic data manipulation to advanced analysis and visualization.
- DataCamp offers several pandas courses that cover topics such as data cleaning, visualization, and time series analysis.
- Kaggle has a wide range of pandas tutorials covering topics such as data cleaning, merging, and grouping.
- Real Python offers a series of tutorials on pandas that cover topics such as data analysis, data visualization, and data manipulation.
By taking advantage of these resources and practicing with real-world datasets, you can become proficient in pandas and use its powerful functionality to analyze and manipulate your own data.
In summary, groupby() and transform() are essential methods in pandas DataFrame that allow you to perform a wide range of data manipulation tasks. You can use built-in functions or create custom functions to apply complex operations to your data, such as calculating summary statistics or percentage points.
These methods can help you analyze and manipulate data more efficiently and effectively, whether you’re working on a small project or a large dataset. By learning how to use groupby() and transform(), you can unlock the full potential of pandas and make more informed decisions based on your data.