Difference Between Pandas Head, Tail And Sample

Prerequisites: Basic Understanding Of Pandas

In this article, we are going to see the difference between Pandas Head, Tail And Sample using Python

Pandas is an open-source library that is made mainly for working with relational or labeled data both easily and intuitively. It provides various data structures and operations for manipulating numerical data and time series. The very first line of code after reading the CSV file is to display the data of our given dataset. Pandas provide three such features through which you can display sample datasets. And three such methods are Head, Tail, And Sample. 

Difference Between Head, Tail, And Sample

One must analyze how should they display the given data. Usually, many programmers prefer to choose head() and check the starting rows to analyze the data. But sometimes it may not be sufficient. I say use all three of them to analyze the data. 

Sample

Using the Sample method, you can display the random data from your dataset. And there are different ways through which you can display the sample data from the dataset. 

Example:

Python

import pandas as pd

data = {
    "Anime": ["One Piece", "Naruto", "Bleach",
              "Hunter X Hunter", "Attack On Titan",
              "Gintama", "Code Geass", "Death Note",
              "Black Lagoon", "Classroom Of Elite",
              "Cowboy Bepop", "Jujutsu Kaisen",
              "Blue Period"],
    "Episodes": [1009, 720, 366, 148, 74, 366,
                 50, 37, 24, 12, 26, 24, 12],
    "Year": [1999, 2002, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2006,
             2007, 2008, 2006, 2016, 1995,
             2020, 2021]
}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

Now that we have our data, try viewing the data using the sample method.

Syntax: 
df.sample() #returns only one row 
df.sample(n) #returns n number of row 

Python3

print(df.sample())  # just one row
print(df.sample(6))  # randomly selected 6 row

Output:

Notice that the sample returns random data that is unordered. 

Head

As the simple English meaning Head is used to denote the upper part of the body. In Pandas head is used to display the ordered data from the top. On passing the empty argument, by default, it displays the top 5 rows. By providing ‘n’ value, you can even display n number of data. 

Syntax: 
df.head() #default=5 Rows 
df.head(n) #n number of rows  

Python3

print(df.head())  # default:5 rows
print(df.head(8))  # first 8 ordered rows

Output:

Tail

The Tail is opposite to the head. It displays the ordered data from below. 

Syntax: 
df.tail() #default 5 number of rows 
df.tail(n) #n number of rows

Python3

print(df.tail())  # default:5 rows
print(df.tail(8))  # last 8 ordered rows

Output:

Conclusion

The major difference between sample, head, and the tail is: on passing the empty arguments sample returns only one row whereas the head and tail return 5 rows. A sample returns unordered data, whereas head and tail return ordered data.