Python Data Stack

The Python programming language has grown significantly in popularity and importance, both as a general programming language and as one of the most advanced providers of data science tools. There are 6 key libraries every Python analyst should be aware of, and they are:

1 - NumPY

NumPY: Also known as Numerical Python, NumPY is an open source Python library used for scientific computing. NumPy gives both speed and higher productivity using arrays and metrics. This basically means it's super useful when analyzing basic mathematical data and calculations. This was one of the first libraries to push the boundaries for Python in big data. The benefit of using something like NumPY is that it takes care of all your mathematical problems with useful functions that are cleaner and faster to write than normal Python code. This is all thanks to its similarities with the C language.

2 - SciPY

SciPY: Also known as Scientific Python, is built on top of NumPy. SciPy takes scientific computing to another level. It’s an advanced form of NumPy and allows users to carry out functions such as differential equation solvers, special functions, optimizers, and integrations. SciPY can be viewed as a library that saves time and has predefined complex algorithms that are fast and efficient. However, there are a plethora of SciPY tools that might confuse users more than help them.

3 - Pandas

Pandas is a key data manipulation and analysis library in Python. Pandas strengths lie in its ability to provide rich data functions that work amazingly well with structured data. There have been a lot of comparisons between pandas and R packages due to their similarities in data analysis, but the general consensus is that it is very easy for anyone using R to migrate to pandas as it supposedly executes the best features of R and Python programming all in one.

4 - Matplotlib

Matplotlib is a visualization powerhouse for Python programming, and it offers a large library of customizable tools to help visualize complex datasets. Providing appealing visuals is vital in the fields of research and data analysis. Python’s 2D plotting library is used to produce plots and make them interactive with just a few lines of code. The plotting library additionally offers a range of graphs including histograms, bar charts, error charts, scatter plots, and much more.

5 - scikit-learn

scikit-learn is Python’s most comprehensive machine learning library and is built on top of NumPy and SciPy. One of the advantages of scikit-learn is the all in one resource approach it takes, which contains various tools to carry out machine learning tasks, such as supervised and unsupervised learning.

6 - IPython

IPython makes life easier for Python developers working with data. It’s a great interactive web notebook that provides an environment for exploration with prewritten Python programs and equations. The ultimate goal behind IPython is improved efficiency thanks to high performance, by allowing scientific computation and data analysis to happen concurrently using multiple third-party libraries.

Continue learning Python with a fun (and potentially lucrative!) way to use decision trees. Read on to find out more.