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An Introduction To Polars - Python's Tool For Large-Scale Data Analysis - DataCamp
An Introduction To Polars - Python's Tool For Large-Scale Data Analysis - DataCamp
An Introduction To Polars - Python's Tool For Large-Scale Data Analysis - DataCamp
BLOG Category
Moez Ali
Data Scientist, Founder & Creator of PyCaret
TO P I C S
Python
In the world of data analysis, Python is a popular language due to its versatility and
extensive ecosystem of libraries. Data manipulation and analysis play a crucial role in
extracting insights and making informed decisions. However, as datasets continue to grow in
size and complexity, the need for high-performance solutions becomes paramount.
Handling large datasets efficiently requires tools that can deliver speedy computations and
optimized operations. This is where Polars comes into the picture. Polars is a powerful open-
source library specifically designed for high-performance data manipulation and analysis in
Python.
Polars Features
Polars is a DataFrame library completely written in Rust and is built to empower Python
developers with a scalable and efficient framework for handling data and is considered as
an alternative to the very popular pandas library. It provides a wide range of functionalities
that facilitate various data manipulation and analysis tasks. Some of the key features and
advantages of using Polars include:
3. Expressive syntax
Polars employs a concise and intuitive syntax, making it easy to learn and use. Its syntax is
reminiscent of popular Python libraries like pandas, allowing users to quickly adapt to Polars
and leverage their existing knowledge.
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chained together, enabling efficient and concise data transformations.
Polars has been specifically designed to handle large datasets efficiently. With its lazy
evaluation strategy and parallel execution capabilities, Polars excels at processing
substantial amounts of data swiftly. By distributing computations across multiple CPU cores,
Polars leverages parallelism to deliver impressive performance gains. See the speed
comparison test between Pandas and Polars by Yuki.
Image Source
For a full comparison of Polars vs pandas, check out our separate article.
Installing Polars
Polars can be installed via pip, the Python package manager. Open your command-line
interface and run the following command:
install polars
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P O W E R E D B Y D ATA C A M P W O R K S PA C E
Output:
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type(data)
>>> polars.dataframe.frame.DataFrame
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Output:
import polars as pl
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Output:
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Filtering rows based on certain conditions can be done using the filter() method. For
instance, to filter rows where the carat is greater than 1.0, you can do the following:
import polars as pl
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Output:
import polars as pl
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Output:
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import polars as pl
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Output:
Alternatively, you can use the fill_nulls() method to replace missing values with a specified
default value or fill method.
import polars as pl
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# show grouped_df head
grouped_df.head()
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Output:
In the output above, you can see the average price of diamonds by Cut dimension.
import polars as pl
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Output:
In this example, we create two DataFrames ( df1 and df2 ) using the pl.DataFrame
constructor. The first DataFrame df1 contains columns id and name , and the second
DataFrame df2 contains columns id and age . We then perform an inner join on the id
column using the join() method, specifying the id column as the join key.
Similarly, by leveraging PyArrow, Polars optimizes data transfer between Polars and Arrow-
based systems. This integration enables seamless work with data stored in Arrow format and
harnesses Polars' high-performance data manipulation capabilities.
import polars as pl
import pandas as pd
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Output:
Conclusion
Polars is a powerful library for high-performance data manipulation and analysis in Python.
Its speed and performance optimizations make it an ideal choice for handling large datasets
efficiently.
With its expressive syntax and DataFrame structures, Polars offers a familiar and intuitive
interface for data manipulation tasks. Furthermore, Polars integrates seamlessly with other
Python libraries such as NumPy and PyArrow, expanding its capabilities and allowing users
to leverage a diverse ecosystem of tools.
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AUTHOR
Moez Ali
TO P I C S
Python
Learn how to import and clean data, calculate statistics, and create visualizations with pandas. In
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