What Is pandas?
By Karthick Selvam · Published · Updated
pandas is an open-source Python library for working with tabular data.
Core objects
The DataFrame (a table) and the Series (a single column), with labelled indexes.
What you can do
Read and write CSV, Excel, Parquet and SQL; filter, join, group, pivot and reshape data; handle missing values and time series.
Limits
pandas works in memory on one machine. For larger data, consider Polars, Spark or doing the work in a warehouse.
Tips
Prefer vectorised operations over loops, use appropriate data types and check results at each step.
Frequently asked questions
Is pandas used in production?
Yes, for small to medium batch jobs, though larger pipelines often use distributed engines.
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