Reading CSV with options (sep, header, encoding) in Data Analysis Python - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Reading CSV with options (sep, header, encoding)

📖 Scenario: You have a CSV file from a friend who uses semicolons ; instead of commas to separate values. Also, the file has no header row, and it uses a special text encoding called latin1. You want to read this file correctly into a table so you can analyze it.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to read a CSV file using pandas.read_csv with options for separator, header, and encoding to get the data loaded properly.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a variable called file_path with the exact string 'data/friends_data.csv'.

Create a variable called separator and set it to the string ';'.

Create a variable called header_option and set it to None.

Create a variable called file_encoding and set it to the string 'latin1'.

Use pandas.read_csv with the variables file_path, sep=separator, header=header_option, and encoding=file_encoding to read the CSV into a variable called df.

Print the first 5 rows of df using print(df.head()).

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

CSV files come in many formats. Knowing how to adjust reading options helps you load data correctly from different sources.

💼 Career

Data scientists often receive data files with various separators and encodings. Mastering these options is essential for data cleaning and preparation.

1

Set the CSV file path

Create a variable called file_path and set it to the string 'data/friends_data.csv'.

Data Analysis Python

# Create the variable file_path with the exact string 'data/friends_data.csv'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use single quotes around the file path string exactly as shown.

2

Set CSV reading options

Create three variables: separator set to ';', header_option set to None, and file_encoding set to 'latin1'.

Data Analysis Python

file_path = 'data/friends_data.csv'
# Create separator, header_option, and file_encoding variables as instructed
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Remember None is a special Python value without quotes.

3

Read the CSV file with options

Import pandas as pd. Then use pd.read_csv with file_path, sep=separator, header=header_option, and encoding=file_encoding to read the CSV into a variable called df.

Data Analysis Python

file_path = 'data/friends_data.csv'
separator = ';'
header_option = None
file_encoding = 'latin1'

# Import pandas and read the CSV file into df using the variables
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use import pandas as pd at the top before reading the file.

4

Display the first 5 rows of the data

Print the first 5 rows of the DataFrame df using print(df.head()).

Data Analysis Python

import pandas as pd

file_path = 'data/friends_data.csv'
separator = ';'
header_option = None
file_encoding = 'latin1'

df = pd.read_csv(file_path, sep=separator, header=header_option, encoding=file_encoding)

# Print the first 5 rows of df
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print(df.head()) to see the first 5 rows.