Check if Substring of One Column is a Substring of Another Column in Pandas

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Using Pandas to Check If a Substring Exists in Another Column

Data analysis often involves comparing strings from different columns to identify relationships. One common task is to determine whether a substring from one column exists within another column. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to effectively achieve this using Pandas in Python.

The Problem

Imagine you have a DataFrame with two columns, col_1 and col_2. Each entry in col_1 is formatted as a string with components separated by an underscore (_). Your goal is to check if any component of the string in col_1 is present in the string of col_2. To give you a clearer picture, here's the input we’ll be working with:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The objective is to create a new column named result, which will be True if at least one component of col_1 is found in col_2, and False otherwise. The expected output for this transformation looks like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution

To solve this problem, we can utilize the powerful string manipulation functions available in Pandas. The process will involve splitting the strings in col_1 and col_2, converting them into sets, and then checking for intersections. Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of how this works:

Step 1: Split the Strings

Step 2: Convert to Sets

After splitting, we can map these lists to sets. This is important because sets allow us to quickly check for shared elements between the two collections.

Step 3: Check for Intersections

We can use the intersection operator (&) to check whether there are any common elements between the sets derived from col_1 and col_2. If there is at least one common element, the result will be True; otherwise, it will be False.

The Code

Here’s the complete code implementation that accomplishes the task:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Expected Output

When you run the code above, you will get the desired output, showing whether each substring in col_1 exists in col_2:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

Using Pandas to check if a substring from one column exists in another column is straightforward with the help of string manipulation and set operations. This method is not only efficient but also concise, allowing you to handle large datasets with ease. By following the steps outlined above, you can apply similar checks in your own data analysis tasks. Happy coding!