loc for label-based selection in Pandas - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using loc for Label-Based Selection in pandas

📖 Scenario: You work in a small bookstore. You have a list of books with their prices and stock counts. You want to find specific books by their titles and see their details.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use loc in pandas to select rows and columns by labels.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a pandas DataFrame with book data

Create a variable with a book title to select

Use loc to select the row for that book

Print the selected row

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Selecting data by labels is common when working with real datasets like sales records, inventory lists, or customer information.

💼 Career

Data analysts and scientists often use label-based selection to quickly access and analyze specific rows in large datasets.

1

Create the books DataFrame

Create a pandas DataFrame called books with these exact data: titles as index 'The Hobbit', '1984', 'Python 101'; columns 'Price' with values 15.99, 12.50, 29.99; and 'Stock' with values 5, 8, 3.

Pandas

import pandas as pd
# Create the DataFrame 'books' with the given titles as index and columns 'Price' and 'Stock'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use pd.DataFrame with a dictionary for columns and set index to the list of titles.

2

Create a variable for the book title

Create a variable called selected_book and set it to the string '1984'.

Pandas

import pandas as pd
books = pd.DataFrame({
    'Price': [15.99, 12.50, 29.99],
    'Stock': [5, 8, 3]
}, index=['The Hobbit', '1984', 'Python 101'])

# Create the variable 'selected_book' with the value '1984'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Just assign the string '1984' to the variable selected_book.

3

Select the row for the chosen book using loc

Use loc to select the row from books where the index matches selected_book. Store this row in a variable called book_info.

Pandas

import pandas as pd
books = pd.DataFrame({
    'Price': [15.99, 12.50, 29.99],
    'Stock': [5, 8, 3]
}, index=['The Hobbit', '1984', 'Python 101'])
selected_book = '1984'

# Use loc to select the row for 'selected_book' and assign it to 'book_info'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use books.loc[selected_book] to get the row by label.

4

Print the selected book information

Print the variable book_info to display the price and stock of the selected book.

Pandas

import pandas as pd
books = pd.DataFrame({
    'Price': [15.99, 12.50, 29.99],
    'Stock': [5, 8, 3]
}, index=['The Hobbit', '1984', 'Python 101'])
selected_book = '1984'
book_info = books.loc[selected_book]

# Print the 'book_info' variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print(book_info) to show the selected row.