Why data preparation consumes most ML time in ML Python - Test Your Understanding

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to load data from a CSV file using pandas.

ML Python

import pandas as pd
data = pd.[1]('data.csv')

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aimport_csv

Bload_csv

Copen_csv

Dread_csv

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using non-existent pandas functions like load_csv or open_csv.

The read_csv function in pandas is used to load CSV files into a DataFrame.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to remove rows with missing values from the DataFrame.

ML Python

clean_data = data.[1]()

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Afillna

Bremove_na

Cdropna

Dclean_na

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using fillna which fills missing values instead of removing rows.

The dropna() method removes rows with missing values from a DataFrame.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to convert a categorical column to numeric using one-hot encoding.

ML Python

encoded_data = pd.get_dummies(data, columns=[[1]])

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acategory_col

B'category_col'

C'category_cols'

Dcategory_cols

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Passing the column name without quotes causing a NameError.

The column name must be passed as a string inside a list to columns parameter.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a dictionary comprehension that maps words to their lengths only if length is greater than 3.

ML Python

{word: [1] for word in words if [2]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Alen(word)

Blen(word) > 3

Cword

Dword > 3

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the word itself as value or wrong condition syntax.

The dictionary maps each word to its length using len(word). The condition filters words with length greater than 3.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a dictionary comprehension that includes only items with value greater than 0 and keys in uppercase.

ML Python

{ [1]: [2] for [3], v in data.items() if v > 0 }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Ak.upper()

Bv

Ck

Dv.upper()

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Swapping keys and values or applying upper() to values.

The dictionary comprehension converts keys to uppercase with k.upper(), keeps values as v, and iterates over key-value pairs k, v.

Practice

1. Why does data preparation usually take the most time in a machine learning project?

easy

A. Because testing the model takes a long time

B. Because training the model requires many calculations

C. Because raw data is often messy and needs cleaning before use

D. Because deploying the model to production is complex

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the nature of raw data

   Raw data collected from real sources often contains errors, missing values, and inconsistencies.

2. Step 2: Recognize the need for cleaning and organizing

   Before training, data must be cleaned and formatted properly to ensure the model learns correctly.

3. Final Answer:

   Because raw data is often messy and needs cleaning before use -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Messy data = More preparation time [OK]

Hint: Messy raw data means more cleaning time [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing model training time with data cleaning time
• Thinking deployment takes the most time
• Assuming testing is the longest step

2. Which of the following is the correct Python code snippet to check for missing values in a pandas DataFrame named df?

easy

A. df.isnull().sum()

B. df.missing_values()

C. df.check_na()

D. df.nulls_count()

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall pandas method for missing values

   The method isnull() returns a DataFrame of booleans indicating missing values.

2. Step 2: Summing missing values per column

   Using sum() on the boolean DataFrame counts missing values per column.

3. Final Answer:

   df.isnull().sum() -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   pandas isnull + sum = count missing [OK]

Hint: Use df.isnull().sum() to count missing data [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using non-existent pandas methods
• Confusing isnull() with isna() (both work but only isnull() shown)
• Trying to call methods that don't exist on DataFrame

3. Consider this Python code for data preparation:

import pandas as pd

data = {'age': [25, None, 30], 'salary': [50000, 60000, None]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
df_filled = df.fillna(df.mean())
print(df_filled)

What will be the output?

medium

A. DataFrame with missing values replaced by zeros

B. DataFrame unchanged with null values still present

C. Error because df.mean() cannot be used with fillna

D. DataFrame with missing values replaced by column means

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand df.mean()

   Calculates mean of each numeric column ignoring null (NaN) values.

2. Step 2: fillna with means

   fillna replaces missing values with the corresponding column mean.

3. Final Answer:

   DataFrame with missing values replaced by column means -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   fillna(df.mean()) fills missing with mean [OK]

Hint: fillna(df.mean()) replaces missing with average [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking fillna(df.mean()) causes error
• Assuming missing values remain unchanged
• Believing missing values become zero

4. You have this code snippet to drop rows with missing values:

import pandas as pd
data = {'height': [170, None, 160], 'weight': [70, 65, None]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
df_clean = df.dropna(axis=1)
print(df_clean)

What is wrong with this code if the goal is to remove rows with missing data?

medium

A. dropna() requires a threshold parameter to work

B. dropna(axis=1) removes columns, not rows

C. dropna() cannot be used on DataFrames

D. dropna(axis=1) removes rows, not columns

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand dropna axis parameter

   axis=0 drops rows; axis=1 drops columns with missing values.

2. Step 2: Identify the mistake

   Using axis=1 removes columns, but the goal is to remove rows.

3. Final Answer:

   dropna(axis=1) removes columns, not rows -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   axis=1 means columns, not rows [OK]

Hint: Use dropna(axis=0) to remove rows with missing data [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing axis=1 with rows
• Thinking dropna always removes rows by default
• Believing dropna needs threshold parameter

5. You have a dataset with many missing values and inconsistent formats. Which two data preparation steps combined will most improve model quality and reduce errors?

hard

A. Filling missing values with mean and converting all text to lowercase

B. Randomly shuffling data and dropping duplicate rows

C. Ignoring missing values and training the model directly

D. Removing all rows with any missing data and normalizing numeric columns

Solution

1. Step 1: Consider filling missing values

   Replacing missing data with mean keeps data size and reduces bias from dropping rows.

2. Step 2: Standardize text format

   Converting text to lowercase fixes inconsistencies and helps model learn better.

3. Final Answer:

   Filling missing values with mean and converting all text to lowercase -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Fill missing + text clean = better data [OK]

Hint: Fill missing + clean text improves data quality [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Dropping all rows loses too much data
• Ignoring missing values causes errors
• Shuffling or dropping duplicates alone won't fix missing data