Introduction to data structures

Data structures are fundamental to computer programming languages. In Python, the core data structures are lists, sets, tuples, and dictionaries. When working in a programming environment, data structures are an abstraction that helps keep track of data, manipulate it, or change it. They also help pass large collections of data as single objects, such as sending an entire Python dictionary to a function. However, organized collections of data can be much more complex, often comprising numerous rows and columns. In this chapter, you will learn about the data structures in pandas that help you deal with such collections of data more effectively. You will dive deeper into the inner workings of these structures and discover how you can use them to accomplish your goals efficiently in Python.

In Chapter 1, Introduction to pandas, you were introduced to the ideas that led to the creation of pandas and basic concepts, such as DataFrames and Series. There...