Complete Python Pandas Data Science Tutorial! (2025 Updated Edition)

The idea

Key points

• Clone the course repo with git clone and cd into the complete-pandas-tutorial folder to get the data files. ▶ 1:11
• A virtual environment keeps this project's packages separate from everything else on your computer. ▶ 1:55
• Install all the course libraries at once with pip3 install -r requirements.txt while the environment is active. ▶ 2:41
• In your notebook, select the tutorial virtual environment as the interpreter before running any code. ▶ 3:44
• The standard first line for pandas is import pandas as pd; the alias pd is used everywhere in the course. ▶ 3:44

Code from the screen

print("hello world")

import pandas as pd

Build along in the practice terminal

1. Open a terminal and move to your code folder.

   $ cd code

   You should see: The prompt shows you are in the code folder.
2. Clone the course repository using the link copied from the video's GitHub page.

   $ git clone https://github.com/KeithGalli/complete-pandas-tutorial.git
   Cloning into 'complete-pandas-tutorial'...
   remote: Enumerating objects: 29, done.
   Resolving deltas: 100% (7/7), done.

   You should see: A new folder named complete-pandas-tutorial appears with the data files inside.
3. Go into the new project folder.

   $ cd complete-pandas-tutorial

   You should see: The prompt now ends with complete-pandas-tutorial %.
4. Create a virtual environment named tutorial inside the project.

   $ python3 -m venv tutorial

   You should see: A tutorial folder appears in the project with no error message.
5. Activate the virtual environment (Mac/Linux). On Windows use tutorial\Scripts\activate instead.

   $ source tutorial/bin/activate

   You should see: The prompt shows (tutorial) at the start of the line.
6. Install all the libraries listed in requirements.txt.

   $ pip3 install -r requirements.txt
   Installing collected packages: pytz, multipledispatch, tzdata, six, ... pandas-flavor, pyjanitor
   Successfully installed ...

   You should see: pip finishes installing packages, including pandas, with no red errors.
7. Open the project folder in Visual Studio Code, create a file named tutorial.ipynb, then select the tutorial environment as the interpreter (Command+Shift+P or Control+Shift+P, then Select Interpreter). You should see: The notebook shows tutorial as the selected kernel or interpreter.
8. In a notebook cell, type print("hello world") and run it, then type import pandas as pd and run it.

   $ import pandas as pd

   You should see: hello world prints and the pandas import runs with no error.

Break it on purpose

$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt
ERROR: Could not open requirements file: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'requirements.txt'

$ source tutorial/bin/activate
-bash: tutorial/bin/activate: No such file or directory

Watch out

• A virtual environment is good practice but optional; in a browser notebook you can skip it and just run pandas. ▶ 2:27
• Activating the environment in the terminal is not enough for the notebook: you must also select the tutorial interpreter in your editor. ▶ 3:18
• If a notebook import of pandas fails, the notebook is probably using a different Python than the one where you installed pandas. ▶ 3:44

Practice

On your scratchpad

Quiz

1. Which command installs every library listed in the course's requirements file?

   1. pip3 install -r requirements.txt
   2. pip3 run requirements.txt
   3. git install requirements.txt
   4. python requirements.txt --all
   Show the answer

   A. pip3 install -r requirements.txt · The video uses pip3 install -r requirements.txt, where -r tells pip to read the package list from the file.

   ▶ 2:41 watch the moment

2. Why does the video select the tutorial interpreter in the editor after activating the environment?

   1. So the notebook uses the Python where pandas was installed
   2. So the notebook can open the internet
   3. So the data files are copied to the browser
   4. So git can clone the repo
   Show the answer

   A. So the notebook uses the Python where pandas was installed · The notebook must run with the environment's Python, otherwise it cannot find the packages you installed there.

   ▶ 3:18 watch the moment

3. What does the line import pandas as pd do?

   1. Loads pandas and gives it the short name pd
   2. Creates a new spreadsheet
   3. Installs pandas on your computer
   4. Prints the pandas version
   Show the answer

   A. Loads pandas and gives it the short name pd · The alias pd is used throughout the course to refer to pandas.

   ▶ 3:44 watch the moment