How To Break Up A Comma Separated String In Pandas Column

Working with datasets often involves scenarios where multiple items are stored in a single column as a comma-separated string. Let's learn how to break up a comma-separated string in the Pandas Column.

Using str.split()

We’ll use a simple dataset where a column contains categories and their respective items as comma-separated strings and use str.split() method in Pandas splits strings based on a specified delimiter. To convert the comma-separated values into lists:

import pandas as pd

# Example DataFrame
data = {'Category': ['Fruits', 'Vegetables', 'Dairy'],
        'Contains': ['Apple,Orange,Banana', 'Carrot,Potato,Tomato,Cucumber', 'Milk,Cheese,Yogurt']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

# Display the DataFrame
print("Original DataFrame:")
display(df)

# Split the 'Contains' column into lists
df['Contains_list'] = df['Contains'].str.split(',')
display(df)

Output:

The str.split(',') method split the string into lists, and stored the list in the new column Contains_list.

Using str.split() with expand=True

If you want each item to have its own column, use the expand=True argument with str.split():

# Split the 'Contains' column into multiple columns
df_split = df['Contains'].str.split(',', expand=True)

print(df_split)

Output:

        0       1       2         3
0   Apple  Orange  Banana      None
1  Carrot  Potato  Tomato  Cucumber
2    Milk  Cheese  Yogurt      None

In the output, the expand=True parameter split the strings and places each element into a separate column and missing values are represented as None.

Extracting Specific Items from Comma Separated String

To extract specific elements, the str.get() method can be used after splitting the strings.

# Extract the first item from the 'Contains_list' column
df['First_Item'] = df['Contains_list'].str.get(0)
display(df)

Output:

Exploding Lists into Rows

The explode() method expands each item in a list into its own row. This is especially useful for creating item-level data.

# Explode the 'Contains_list' column into rows
df_exploded = df.explode('Contains_list')
print(df_exploded)

Output:

     Category                       Contains Contains_list First_Item
0      Fruits            Apple,Orange,Banana         Apple      Apple
0      Fruits            Apple,Orange,Banana        Orange      Apple
0      Fruits            Apple,Orange,Banana        Banana      Apple
1  Vegetables  Carrot,Potato,Tomato,Cucumber        Carrot     Carrot
1  Vegetables  Carrot,Potato,Tomato,Cucumber        Potato     Carrot
1  Vegetables  Carrot,Potato,Tomato,Cucumber        Tomato     Carrot
1  Vegetables  Carrot,Potato,Tomato,Cucumber      Cucumber     Carrot
2       Dairy             Milk,Cheese,Yogurt          Milk       Milk
2       Dairy             Milk,Cheese,Yogurt        Cheese       Milk
2       Dairy             Milk,Cheese,Yogurt        Yogurt       Milk

By utilizing the str.split() method and its variants, you can efficiently break down comma-separated strings in Pandas DataFrames.

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• Pandas
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