Using multiple dispatch to handle branching behavior

Let's assume you have and object of the DataFrame type with heterogeneous contents. In this recipe, we will discuss how you can efficiently work with such data using multiple dispatch.

Getting ready

The DataFrame type is designed to hold different types of columns. Therefore, you often have a challenge to dynamically decide which operation to perform on a column, depending on its type. In this recipe, we want to create a simplified version of the describe function, which will behave differently depending on which type of column passed in.

In order to follow this recipe you need to have the DataFrames.jl package installed. If it is missing then you can add it by executing the following commands using Pkg; Pkg.add("DataFrames") in the Julia command line.

Note

In the GitHub repository for this recipe you will find the commands.txt file that contains the presented sequence of shell and Julia commands.

Now open your favorite terminal to execute commands...