.merge()

In Pandas, the .merge() method combines two DataFrames using a common key column or index, similar to a SQL JOIN operation. It’s essential for integrating datasets that share related fields.

Syntax

The .merge() method provides a flexible way to combine DataFrames using different types of joins. The syntax shows all available parameters:

DataFrame.merge(right, how='inner', on=None, left_on=None, right_on=None, left_index=False, right_index=False, suffixes=('_x', '_y'))

Parameters:

• right: The DataFrame or named Series to merge with.
• how: Type of merge to perform:
  • 'inner': Include only matching rows from both DataFrames.
  • 'outer': Include all rows from both DataFrames, with NaNs where no match is found.
  • 'left': Include all rows from the left DataFrame and matching ones from the right.
  • 'right': Include all rows from the right DataFrame and matching ones from the left.
• on: Index level or column names to join on. Must exist in both DataFrames.
• left_on: Column(s) or index level(s) in the left DataFrame to use as join keys.
• right_on: Column(s) or index level(s) in the right DataFrame to use as join keys.
• left_index: Use the index from the left DataFrame as the join key.
• right_index: Use the index from the right DataFrame as the join key.
• suffixes: The suffixes to apply to overlapping column names from the left and right DataFrames.

Example

This example demonstrates a basic merge operation between two DataFrames using a common 'id' column:

import pandas as pd

# Create two sample DataFrames
df1 = pd.DataFrame({
  'id': [1, 2, 3, 4],
  'name': ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Charlie', 'David']
})

df2 = pd.DataFrame({
  'id': [1, 2, 3, 5],
  'age': [25, 30, 35, 40]
})

# Merge the DataFrames on the 'id' column
merged_df = df1.merge(df2, on='id')

# Print the merged DataFrame
print(merged_df)

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The code produces this output:

   id    name  age
0   1   Alice   25
1   2     Bob   30
2   3  Charlie   35

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Notes:

• Only rows with matching id values (1, 2, and 3) are included in the result.
• The row with id=4 from df1 is excluded because it has no match in df2.
• The row with id=5 from df2 is excluded because it has no match in df1.

Codebyte Example

This codebyte example demonstrates different types of merges and their effects on the resulting DataFrame:

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