The UN is in session. For politicians, that means speeches and fancy meetings. And so, Bamboo Weekly's latest batch of #Pandas challenges use grouping, text analysis, and pivot tables to review Security Council records. Check them out: bambooweekly.com

I had a great time at PyCon India, and in Bangalore. But the traffic was ... quite the experience, both taking taxis crossing streets. For this week's data-analysis problems in Bamboo Weekly, I thus looked at vehicle registrations in India. Check it out at bambooweekly.com!

📊 Who is using Python, and how? @lernerpython.com explores the latest Python Developer Survey in the latest installment of “Bamboo Weekly”, a newsletter featuring new Pandas data analysis puzzles and solutions every week. ➡️ Explore Reuven’s deep-dive: jb.gg/bwnjbs

Ever wonder which airlines are more cramped? Or how much more room premium economy or business class gives you? In the latest Bamboo Weekly, we use #Pandas to analyze airline seating data with grouping, pivot tables, and regular expressions. New Pandas questions every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

It's hot and rainy in Taipei. But just how rainy? In my PyCon TW lightning talk, I downloaded, analyzed, and plotted rain data using Pandas. I did it all in @marimo.io , and posted it to the "Molab" server, so you run the analysis in your browser: molab.marimo.io/notebooks/nb...

The latest Bamboo Weekly examines wind turbines: • Which countries generate the most electricity from wind? * Do countries that invest in wind power also invest in solar? Level up your #Python/#Pandas skills! New questions every Wednesday, new solutions every Thursday. bambooweekly.com

Using uv for your #Python projects? You're probably doing it wrong. While uv *can* replace pip, pyenv, and venvs, you really should be using it differently. If you do, things get easier and more straightforward. Read more: lerner.co.il/2025/08/28/y...

Have Canadians stopped visiting the US? In this week's Bamboo Weekly, we examined numbers from the Canadian government. And yes, we saw a steep year-over-year drop in the first six months of 2025. Level up your #Python/#Pandas skills every Wednesday, at bambooweekly.com .

Are fewer Canadians visiting the US now that Trump is president? In the latest Bamboo Weekly, we examine Canadian border-crossing statistics — while reducing our memory footprint, using time series, and creating pivot tables. Improve your #Python #Pandas skills every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

Using #Python #Pandas? Then you're probably using "groupby". I see people making the same mistakes with "groupby" all of the time. In my latest video, I describe these mistakes, tell you what the problem is, and explain how to fix it. Check it out: youtu.be/jJNXRLjeYwE?...

Last week's US jobs report reduced previous estimates, leading to the firing of the head statistician. Today's Bamboo Weekly examines the BLS data, calculating these changes ourselves with #Python #Pandas. Improve your data skills every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

Do you usually separate groups of digits with commas? Do that in #Python, and you'll have trouble. In my latest video, I show you how to separate digits in Python, and then how to display numbers separated by commas, too. Check it out: youtu.be/hhgg9SFyQZs?...

IIBA Chicagoland Chapter Showcasing the Powers of Jupyter - @lernerpython.com Reuven Lerner Join us on Zoom this Wed! Aug 6, 6:00-7:30pm CT Cost: Free chicago.iiba.org/.../showcasi... #Python #Jupyter #Pandas #DataFormats #Export #Import #BusinessAnalysis

Tom Lehrer passed away this week, so the latest Bamboo Weekly is about analyzing his lyrics with #Python #Pandas: • Create a data frame from text files • Using .str methods • Extract text with regex Improve your data-analysis skills each Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

#Python people talk a lot about "mutable" and "immutable" data. What does that mean, though? In my latest video, I break it down, showing you what it means for a data structure (e.g., a list or dict) to be mutable. youtu.be/qfQBMq4IH1s?...

Ever use the x=y=z syntax in #Python, assigning multiple variables at the same time? Ever discover it didn't quite work right? In my latest video, I show you what's happening behind the scenes, and where this syntax can bite you: youtu.be/rm_T1x3VnMU?...

I'm now an old hand at #Python conferences, and feel very comfortable there. But for many, it can be overwhelming and daunting. Here are some tips for anyone attending a conference for the first time, who wants to get the most out of it: lerner.co.il/2025/07/27/h...

It's summer in much of the world, and this summer is *hot*! In the latest Bamboo Weekly, I pose six questions based on European climate data. But we also explore xarray, PyArrow, pivot tables, plotting, and memory optimization. Level up your #Python #Pandas every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com !

Using #Python #Pandas? I've been teaching it for many years, and I've seen lots of people make the same mistakes. In my latest video, I review (and explain) those mistakes, and how to correct them: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpl...

Confused by #Python comprehensions? You're not alone! Lots of people find the syntax a bit mystifying. In this video, I break down what comprehensions do, how to use them, and how to write them so that you can better understand what's going on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqAE...

I had a great time presenting, "What does = do?" at @europython.eu earlier today in Prague. I've uploaded the slides, if you want to take a look: speakerdeck.com/reuven/what-...

Delightfully emcouraging keynote from @savannah.dev at @europython.eu about how everyone can, and should, contribute to Python... And that everyone does something different, in their own way, which is a good thing. A great way to start the conference!

Some #Python #Pandas calculations seem like they need a "for" loop: • By how much (amount or %) does each row differ from the previous one? • Aggregate over every group of 5 consecutive rows You don't need a loop. You need a Pandas windowing methods. Learn more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzB0...

Trying to get integer input from a user in #Python? You can, of course, run int() on the result from input(). But what if the user enters non-numeric data? In my latest video, I show you two ways to handle this, and why exception handling is the more "Pythonic": www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-7...

How many Americans bought electric vehicles (EVs) in the last decade? In the latest Bamboo Weekly, I pose six problems on this topic, using data from the Department of Transportation. Level up your #Python #Pandas skills every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

Q: If we can retrieve from a #Python #Pandas datetime column, then what's the advantage of a time series? A: You can do three things that would otherwise be annoying or impossible: 1. Wildcard date retrieval 2. Date slices 3. Resampling Take a look: youtu.be/M4qhlzzrCXg

Reading an Excel file into a Pandas data frame isn't hard. But what if you want 2 columns to be a multi-index... and one is unnamed? In my latest video, I show you how to create a multi-index in such cases. *PLUS* we talk about assign, transpose, and pipe. Check it out: youtu.be/wf_nbP-S5rk?...

A lot of #Python developers think that "with" is about opening files. And it's certainly used there! But it's much more than that. In this video, I explain what "with" does, the context-manager protocol, and how to make your own objects behave inside of a "with" block: youtu.be/i3iqByWM7icl...

Want to replace your #Python #Pandas data frame's default index with one of its columns? Use set_index, of course. But it's faster and easier to pass index_col to read_csv, letting you set indexes, multi-indexes, and time-series indexes. Watch and learn: youtu.be/kzUyeMcMQLw?...

You've been told not to use "for" loops in #Python #Pandas. Or to use "apply". So you use ".str" instead. But sometimes "str" is slower than "apply". How can this be? In my latest video, I explain why — and demonstrate PyArrow strings, which run 20x faster. Watch here: youtu.be/Ovz8F464uo0?...

Have you ever merged two #Python #Pandas data frames together, only to find that one column has a _x suffix, and another has a _y suffix? Wonder where this comes from, and how you can change it? I explain it all in my latest video: youtu.be/1hYIC4sT5dk?...

Want to know if the US dollar rose or fell each year? That's easy. But if you want to know whether it rose or fell during the *first half* of each year? That's trickier! In my latest video, I walk you through how to solve such a problem using #Python #Pandas: youtu.be/KMn16l7RoM4?...

Want to get the log of a file you deleted in Git? Want to restore a file you deleted in a previous commit? In my latest video, I show you how deleting (and un-deleting) work in Git, and why: youtu.be/oT4__qrXYy8?

How much is the US dollar worth? Less than before — as Americans are finding when they travel abroad. In the latest Bamboo Weekly, I pose #Python #Pandas problems about the dollar's worth. Level up your data-analysis skills every Wednesday: bambooweekly.com

Did you type =+ instead of += into #Python? Two things might have surprised you: - You got the wrong answer - You didn't get an error In this video, I explain what "unary plus" is, and how it plays a role. I also show how to define its behavior in your classes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgXo...

Have you been getting SyntaxWarnings from your #Python strings, complaining about escaped characters? In my latest video, I explain what's going on, what Python is trying to tell you — and two easy ways to make the warning go away: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n15_...

Chatbots, when used for coding, are like chain saws: Powerful in the hands of a seasoned professional, and dangerous in the hands of a newbie.

Are you using "for" loops in #Python #Pandas? Then you're almost certainly doing it wrong. Pandas gets its speed from vectorized operations. "for" loops remove that advantage. In this video, I show how much slower "for" loops are, and how to write shorter, faster code: youtu.be/H9GZ8RexxKc

Everyone is talking about how chatbots can write code. But did you know that chatbots can help you to write code, or become a more fluent #Python coder? In this video, I explore 10 AI prompts and techniques you can use to improve your skills and knowledge. Take a look: youtu.be/rEddzOVCAEM

What are window functions, and how do we use them in #Python #Pandas? In my latest video, I look at NATO spending, using window functions to see (a) who increased spending in the last year/decade, and (b) how many non-US countries' spending equals the US. More here: youtu.be/Gi20V_abj0E?...

Want only part of a #Python string, list, or tuple? You want a slice, which we normally see as [start:end]. But there are many variations on this syntax. And many uses for slices that you might not have thought of. Take a deep dive into slices in my latest video: youtu.be/BjrOcczrZCQ

There's so much to learn and remember in #Pandas. Bamboo Weekly helps, with new challenges every Wednesday. Want to practice one particular skill, such as JSON, regex, or multi-indexes? Check out our tags page (www.bambooweekly.com/tags/ ), and find the specific topics you want to practice.

Freshly arrived. I had wanted some summer #tech reading material and chose this delightful #Python book from the renowned expert and speaker @lernerpython.com

Want to count a value your #Python #Pandas data frame? Use value_counts. In my latest video, I show you some tricks for for this simple (but oh-so-useful!) method. I also show you how fast it is — much faster, for example, than the Counter class from Python's standard library: youtu.be/Xh7ahxkjhsg

Join Reuven M. Lerner @lernerpython.com at EuroPython for "What does = do?". Talk: ep2025.europython.eu/3STLTA

Woo hoo! 🎉 My talk, "What does = do in #Python?" and my tutorial, "Comprehending comprehensions," were both accepted for this year's @pycontw.bsky.social , to be held in Taipei. I'm excited to return to Taiwan, and to participate in this great conference in September!

Tired of boring, easy, toy Pandas exercises? Check out Bamboo Weekly (bambooweekly.com), where you work with real-world (i.e., messy) data sets. Make sense of data using multi-indexes, pivot tables, date/time functions, and regular expressions.

Ever wonder what a "for" loop does behind the scenes? It turns out that we can implement it, and understand it better, using a generator function. In my latest video, I describe the iterator protocol, and then walk you through creating such a loop: youtu.be/1aOK234rNpc

Ever read a CSV file into #Python #Pandas, and discover that the text is poorly formatted? That the numbers aren't even numbers, because they include $ in the numeric columns? In my latest video, I demonstrate how to clean these issues using assign, str.replace, and map: youtu.be/CFSKkC6kdq4

Struggling to make sense of #Python, #Pandas, and/or Git? You're not alone in wanting to learn them. And you're not alone in struggling. June 19th, I'm starting cohort #7 of PythonDAB, my Python Data Analytics Bootcamp. I'll help you make sense of it all. Learn more at pythondab.com