Pandas for Everyone: Python Data Analysis, 2nd Edition

10

Data Types

Data types determine what can and cannot be done to a variable (i.e., column). For example, when numeric data types are added together, the result will be a sum of the values; in contrast, if strings (in Pandas they are object or string types) are added, the strings will be concatenated together.

This chapter presents a quick overview of the various data types you may encounter in Pandas, and means to convert from one data type to another.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize columns in data store the same data type

• Identify what kind of data type is stored in a column

• Use functions to change the type of a column

• Modify categorical columns

10.1 Data Types

In this chapter, we’ll use the built-in tips data set from the seaborn library. ...