The data algebra is a system for composing data manipulation tasks in Python. In the data algebra, operator pipelines (or even directed acyclic graphs) are the primary objects. Applying operations composes small data pipelines into larger ones. This allows the fluid specification, inspection, and sharing of data processing and data […]
I’ve just started experimenting with the Polars data frame library in Python. I really like the programmable API it exposes. In fact I am starting an experimental adapter from the data algebra to Polars. When this is complete one can use the data algebra to run the same data transform […]
A central data science engineering problem is how to organize general data into columns for analysis. I often refer to this as denormalization, or the deliberate arranging of data so all entries of a record are in a single row in a single table. In this note I will write […]
Introduction The data algebra is a Python system for designing data transformations that can be used in Pandas or SQL. The new 1.3.0 version introduces a lot of early checking and warnings to make designing data transforms more convenient and safer. An Example I’d like to demonstrate some of these […]
Introduction A surprisingly tricky problem in doing data science or analytics in the database are situations where one has to re-map a large number of columns. This occurs, for example, in the vtreat data preparation system. In the vtreat case, a large number of the variable encodings reduce to table-lookup […]
The data algebra is a system for specifying data transformations in Pandas or SQL databases. To use it, we advise checking out the README and introduction. These document what data operators are the basis of data algebra transformation construction and composition. I have now added a catalog of what expression […]
Machine learning “in the database” (including systems such as Spark) is an increasingly popular topic. And where there is machine learning, there is a need for data preparation. Many machine learning algorithms expect all data to be numeric without missing values. vtreat is a package (available for Python or for […]
When working with multiple data tables we often need to know how for a given set of keys, how many instances of rows each table has. I would like to use such an example in Python as yet another introduction to the data algebra (an alternative to direct Pandas or […]
I am pleased to announce the 0.9.0 release of the data algebra. The data algebra is realization of the Codd relational algebra for data in written in terms of Python method chaining. It allows the concise clear specification of useful data transforms. Some examples can be found here. Benefits include […]
I would like to share another quick tutorial on some aspects of the data algebra, this time using the example of comparing two tables. Please check it out here.