SQL to Python Pandas: A SQL User’s Quick Guide

Unlock the essentials of translating your code from SQL to Python with this quick guide tailored for SQL users. Dive into key insights and streamline your data manipulation process.

In this post, we will compare the implementation of Pandas and SQL for data queries. We’ll explore how to use Pandas in a manner similar to SQL by translating SQL queries into Pandas operations.

It’s important to note that there are various ways to achieve similar results, and the translation of SQL queries to Pandas will be done by employing some of its core methods.

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New York Flights ✈️ 🧳 🗽

source image Image by upklyak on Freepik

We aim to explore the diverse Python Pandas methods, focusing on their application through the nycflights13 datasets. This datasets offer comprehensive information about airlines, airports, weather conditions, and aircraft for all flights passing through New York airports in 2013.

Through this exercise, we’ll not only explore Pandas functionality but also learn to apply fundamental SQL concepts in a Python data manipulation environment.

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Entity-relationship diagram [DER]

The nycflights13 library contains tables with flight data from New York airports in 2023. Below, you can find a high-level representation of an entity-relationship diagram with its five tables.

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Installation: Setting Up nycflights13

To install the nycflights13 library, you can use the following command:

!pip install nycflights13

This library provides datasets containing comprehensive information about flights from New York airports in 2023. Once installed, you can easily access and analyze this flight data using various tools and functionalities provided by the nycflights13 package.

---

🟢 Pandas, NumPy, and nycflights13 for Data Analysis in Python

In the next code snippet, we are importing essential Python libraries for data analysis. * 📗 Pandas is a library for data manipulation and analysis, * 📗 Numpy provides support for numerical operations * 📗 Nycflights13 is a specialized library containing datasets related to flights from New York airports in 2023.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import nycflights13 as nyc

In the following lines of code, we are assigning two specific datasets from the nycflights13 library to variables.

flights = nyc.flights
airlines = nyc.airlines

---

🟢 SELECT and FROM Statements

📗 SELECT: All Columns

The following SQL query retrieves all columns and rows from the “🛩️ flights” table. In Pandas, the equivalent is simply writing the DataFrame name, in this case, “flights.” For example:

🔍sql

  SELECT * FROM flights;

🐍python

flights

📗 SELECT: Specific Columns

To select specific columns from a Pandas DataFrame, you can use the following syntax:

🔍sql

  select 
    year, 
    month, 
    day, 
    dep_time, 
    flight, 
    tailnum, 
    origin, 
    dest 
  from flights;

🐍python

(
    flights
        .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
                'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest'])
)

---

🟢 Filtering Operators (WHERE)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ for Equality ( = )

To filter all ✈️ flights where the origin is ‘JFK’ in Pandas, you can use the following code:

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights 
  where origin = 'JFK'
limit 10;

🐍python

(   flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest'])
      .query("origin=='JFK'")
      .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ for Equality ( = )

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria: * ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights 
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' ) 
limit 10;

🐍python

 (  flights
        .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
        'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest'])
      .query("origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA']")
      .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ with Inequality ( != )

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria:

• ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.
• ✈️ Flights not destined for Miami (MIA).

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' ) and dest<>'MIA'
limit 10;

🐍python

(   flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest'])
      .query("(origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA']) and (dest != 'MIA')")
   .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ for Comparisons (>=, <=, <, >)

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria:

• ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.
• ✈️ Flights not destined for Miami (MIA).
• ✈️ Flights with a distance less than or equal to 1000 km.

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and distance < = 1000
limit 10;

🐍python

( flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight',
            'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour', 'distance'])
      .query("(origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA']) and (dest != 'MIA') and (distance <= 1000)")
      .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ with between operator

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria:

• ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.
• ✈️ Flights not destined for Miami (MIA).
• ✈️ Flights with a distance less than or equal to 1000 km.
• ✈️ Flights within the period from September 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013.

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and distance < = 1000
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
limit 10;

🐍python

(   flights.filter([['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
          'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour', 'distance'])
      .query(
            "(origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])" 
             " and (dest != 'MIA')"
             " and (distance <= 1000)"
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
         )
      .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ with “LIKE” Clause

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria:

• ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.
• ✈️ Flights not destined for Miami (MIA).
• ✈️ Flights with a distance less than or equal to 1000 km.
• ✈️ Flights within the period from September 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013.
• ✈️ Flights where the tailnum contains ‘N5’ in the text.

You can use the following code:

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and distance < = 1000
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
   and tailnum like '%N5%'
limit 10;

🐍python

(
    flights     
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 'tailnum',
        'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour'])
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and (dest != 'MIA') "
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
             " and (tailnum.str.find('N5')>=0)"
       )
      .head(10)
)

📗 Utilizing ‘WHERE’ with Null or Not Null Values

To achieve the same filtering in Pandas for specific criteria:

• ✈️ Flights departing from JFK, LGA, or EWR.
• ✈️ Flights not destined for Miami (MIA).
• ✈️ Flights with a distance less than or equal to 1000 km.
• ✈️ Flights within the period from September 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013.
• ✈️ Flights where the tailnum contains ‘N5’ in the text.
• ✈️ Flights where dep_time is null

You can use the following code:

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and distance < = 1000
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
   and tailnum like '%N5%'
   and dep_time is null
limit 10;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour'])
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and (dest != 'MIA') "
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
             " and (tailnum.str.find('N5')>=0)"
             " and dep_time.isnull()"
       )
      .head(10)
)

---

🟢 Order by Statement

The .sort_values() methods in Pandas are equivalent to the ORDER BY clause in SQL.

1️⃣.**.sort_values(['origin','dest'], ascending=False)**: This method sorts the DataFrame based on the ‘origin’ and ‘dest’ columns in descending order (from highest to lowest). In SQL, this would be similar to the ORDER BY origin DESC, dest DESC clause.

2️⃣.**.sort_values(['day'], ascending=True)**: This method sorts the DataFrame based on the ‘day’ column in ascending order (lowest to highest). In SQL, this would be similar to the ORDER BY day ASC clause.

Both methods allow you to sort your DataFrame according to one or more columns, specifying the sorting direction with the ascending parameter. True means ascending order, and False means descending order.

🔍sql

select year, month , day, dep_time, flight, tailnum, origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and distance < = 1000
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
   and tailnum like '%N5%'
   and dep_time is null
order by  origin, dest desc
limit 10;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour'])
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and (dest != 'MIA') "
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
             " and (tailnum.str.find('N5')>=0)"
             " and year.notnull()"
       )
      .sort_values(['origin','dest'],ascending=False)
      .head(10)
      
)

---

🟢 Distinct Values: Removing Duplicates from Results

To perform a distinct select in pandas, you need to first execute the entire query, and then apply the drop_duplicates() method to eliminate all duplicate rows.

🔍sql

select distinct origin, dest
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
order by  origin, dest desc;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['origin','dest','time_hour'])
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and (dest != 'MIA') "
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
       )
      .filter(['origin','dest'])
      .drop_duplicates()
      
)

---

🟢 Adding Calculated Columns

Now, let’s introduce a new calculated column called “delay_total,” where we sum the values from the “dep_delay” and “arr_delay” columns.

🔍sql

select  
  origin,
  dest,
  time_hour,
  dep_delay,
  arr_delay,
  flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay as delay_total 
from flights  
  where origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30';

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['origin', 'dest', 'time_hour', 'dep_delay', 'arr_delay'])
      .assign(delay_total = flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay )
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and (dest != 'MIA') "
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
       )
)

---

🟢 Group by Statement

To perform a GROUP BY operation in pandas, we’ll use the groupby method, which operates similarly to its SQL counterpart. Similarly, we can employ common aggregate functions such as sum, max, min, mean (equivalent to avg in SQL), and count. Below is a simple example to illustrate this process:

🔍sql

select 
  year,
  month,
  max(dep_delay) as dep_delay,
from flights
group by 
  year,
  month;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .groupby(['year','month'],as_index=False)
      ['dep_delay'].max()
)

🟢 Group by and Having Statement

In the following example, we’ll explore how to implement a HAVING clause in pandas, leveraging the query method, as we’ve done previously for filtering.

🔍sql

select 
  year,
  month,
  max(dep_delay) as dep_delay,
from flights
group by 
  year,
  month
having max(dep_delay)>1000

🐍python

(
    flights
      .groupby(['year','month'],as_index=False)['dep_delay']
      .max()
      .query('(dep_delay>1000)') # having
)

---

🟢 Group by with multiple calculations

When working with pandas and needing to perform multiple calculations on the same column or across different columns, the agg function becomes a valuable tool. It allows you to specify a list of calculations to be applied, providing flexibility and efficiency in data analysis.

Consider the following SQL query:

🔍sql

select 
  year,
  month,
  max(dep_delay)  as dep_delay_max,
  min(dep_delay)  as dep_delay_min,
  mean(dep_delay) as dep_delay_mean,
  count(*)        as dep_delay_count,
  max(arr_delay)  as arr_delay_max,
  min(arr_delay)  as arr_delay_min,
  sum(arr_delay)  as arr_delay_sum
from flights
group by 
  year,
  month

This query retrieves aggregated information from the “flights” dataset, calculating various statistics like maximum, minimum, mean, count, and sum for both “dep_delay” and “arr_delay” columns. To achieve a similar result in pandas, we use the agg function, which allows us to specify these calculations concisely and efficiently. The resulting DataFrame provides a clear summary of the specified metrics for each combination of “year” and “month.”

🐍python

result = (
    flights
      .groupby(['year','month'],as_index=False)
      .agg({'dep_delay':['max','min','mean','count'], 'arr_delay':['max','min','sum']})     
)

# Concatenate function names with column names
result.columns = result.columns.map('_'.join)

# Print the results
result

---

🟢 Union Statement

To execute a UNION ALL operation in Pandas, it is necessary to create two DataFrames and concatenate them using the concat method. Unlike SQL, a DataFrame in Pandas can be combined to generate additional columns or additional rows. Therefore, it is essential to define how the concatenation should be performed:

• axis=1 => Union that appends another dataset to the right, generating more columns.
• axis=0 => Union that appends more rows.

In our example, we will perform the equivalent of a UNION ALL in SQL, so we will use axis=0.

🔍sql

select  
  origin,
  dest,
  time_hour,
  dep_delay,
  arr_delay,
  flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay as delay_total ,
  'NYC' group
FROM flights  
  WHERE origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' )
   and dest<>'MIA' 
   and time_hour between '2013-09-01' and '2012-09-30'
ORDER BY flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay DESC
LIMIT 3
UNION ALL
select  
  origin,
  dest,
  time_hour,
  dep_delay,
  arr_delay,
  flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay as delay_total ,
  'MIA' group
FROM flights  
  WHERE origin in ( 'JFK', 'LGA', 'EWR' ) 
   and time_hour between '2013-07-01' and '2012-09-30'
  ORDER BY flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay DESC
  LIMIT 2;

🐍python

Flights_NYC = (
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight',
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour',
              'dep_delay', 'arr_delay'])
      .assign(delay_total = flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay )
      .query(
             " (origin in ['JFK', 'EWR', 'LGA'])"
             " and ('2013-09-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
       )
     .assign(group ='NYC')      
     .sort_values('delay_total',ascending=False)     
     .head(3)
)

Flights_MIAMI = (
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour', 
              'dep_delay', 'arr_delay'])
      .assign(delay_total = flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay )
      .query(
             " (dest in ['MIA', 'OPF', 'FLL'])"
             " and ('2013-07-01' <= time_hour <= '2013-09-30')"
       )
     .assign(group ='MIA') 
     .sort_values('delay_total',ascending=False)     
     .head(2)
)

# union all 
pd.concat([ Flights_NYC,Flights_MIAMI],axis=0)

---

🟢 CASE WHEN Statement

To replicate the CASE WHEN statement, we can use two different methods from NumPy:

1️⃣. If there are only two conditions, for example, checking if the total delay exceeds 0, then we label it as “Delayed”; otherwise, we label it as “On Time”. For this, the np.where method from NumPy is utilized.

🔍sql

select  
  origin,
  dest,
  time_hour,
  dep_delay,
  arr_delay,
  (case 
    when flights.dep_delay + flights.arr_delay >0 then 'Delayed'
    else 'On Time' end) as status ,
FROM flights  
LIMIT 5;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time',
              'flight', 'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 
              'time_hour', 'dep_delay', 'arr_delay'])
      .assign(status=np.where((flights['dep_delay'] + flights['arr_delay']) > 0,                                'Delayed',
                               'On Time'))
      .head(5)
)
 

2️⃣. In case there are more conditions, such as identifying Miami airports and labeling them as “MIA”, labeling “ATL” airports that they are in Altanta, and for any other cases, using the label “OTHER”. For this, the np.select method from NumPy is employed.

City	Name	Acronym
Miami	Miami International	(MIA)
Miami	Opa-locka Executive	(OPF)
Miami	Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood	(FLL)
Atlanta	Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta	(ATL)
Atlanta	DeKalb-Peachtree	(PDK)
Atlanta	Fulton County	(FTY)

---

🔍sql

select  
  origin,
  dest,
  time_hour,
  dep_delay,
  arr_delay,
  (case 
    when dest in ('ATL','PDK','FTY') then 'ATL'
    when dest in ('MIA','OPF','FLL') then 'MIA'
    else 'Other'
  end) as city ,
FROM flights  
LIMIT 10;

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
              'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour',
              'dep_delay', 'arr_delay'])
      .assign( city=np.select([flights['dest'].isin(['ATL','PDK','FTY']), 
                             flights['dest'].isin(['MIA', 'OPF', 'FLL'])],
                             ['ATL','MIA'],
                             default='Other')
              )
    .head(10)
)

---

🟢 JOIN Statement

Entity relationship diagram [DER]

---

When performing a join in Pandas, the merge method should be used.

📗 Join Types

How: Specifies the type of join to be performed. Available options: {'left', 'right', 'outer', 'inner', 'cross'}

joins

📗 Join Key

On: The key on which the tables will be joined. If more than one column is involved, a list should be provided. Examples:

• Single variable: on='year'

fligths.merge(planes, how='inner', on='tailnum')

• Two variables: on=[‘year’,‘month’,‘day’]

fligths.merge(weather, how='inner', on=['year','month','day'])

• left_on/right_on: When the columns have different names, these parameters should be used. For example:

fligths.merge(airports, how='inner', left_on = 'origin', rigth_on='faa')

---

Here’s an example using the airlines and flights tables:

🔍sql

select  
  f.year,
  f.month,
  f.day,
  f.dep_time,
  f.flight,
  f.tailnum,
  f.origin as airport_origen,
  f.dest,
  f.time_hour,
  f.dep_delay,
  f.arr_delay,
  f.carrier,
  a.name as airline_name
FROM flights  f
  left join airlines a on f.carrier = a.carrier
LIMIT 5;

🟢 Rename

The rename method is used to rename columns, similar to the “as” clause in SQL.

🐍python

(
    flights
      .filter(['year', 'month', 'day', 'dep_time', 'flight', 
        'tailnum', 'origin', 'dest', 'time_hour', 'dep_delay', 
        'arr_delay', 'carrier'])
      .merge(airlines, how = 'left', on ='carrier')
      .rename(columns= {'name':'airline_name', 'origin':'airport_origen'})
      .head(5)
)
 

---

You can find all the code in a 🐍 python notebook in the following [link]

---

📚 References

If you want to learn more about `Pandas` and `NumPy`…

- [Pandas]

- [NumPy]

Other references:

- Image preview reference: [Imagen de vectorjuice en Freepik]