Keeping first vs last vs none in Pandas

Introduction

When you have repeated data, you often want to keep only some of it. This helps to clean your data and avoid confusion.

You have a list of customers and want to keep only their first purchase record.

You want to remove duplicate rows but keep the last entry for each group.

You want to remove all duplicates and keep only unique rows with no repeats.

You are cleaning survey data and want to keep only one response per person.

You want to prepare data for analysis by removing repeated entries.

Syntax

Pandas

DataFrame.drop_duplicates(subset=None, keep='first', inplace=False)

subset lets you choose columns to check for duplicates.

keep can be 'first', 'last', or False (none).

Examples

Keeps the first occurrence of each duplicate and removes the rest.

Pandas

df.drop_duplicates(keep='first')

Keeps the last occurrence of each duplicate and removes the others.

Pandas

df.drop_duplicates(keep='last')

Removes all duplicates, keeping only rows that appear once.

Pandas

df.drop_duplicates(keep=False)

Sample Program

This code shows how to keep first, last, or no duplicates in a simple table of names and scores.

Pandas

import pandas as pd

data = {'Name': ['Anna', 'Bob', 'Anna', 'Bob', 'Cathy'],
        'Score': [85, 90, 85, 95, 88]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

print('Original DataFrame:')
print(df)

print('\nKeep first duplicates:')
print(df.drop_duplicates(keep='first'))

print('\nKeep last duplicates:')
print(df.drop_duplicates(keep='last'))

print('\nKeep none (remove all duplicates):')
print(df.drop_duplicates(keep=False))

Important Notes

Using keep=False removes all rows that have duplicates, leaving only unique rows.

If you want to check duplicates only on some columns, use the subset parameter.

Setting inplace=True changes the original DataFrame without making a copy.

Summary

Keep='first' keeps the first duplicate and removes later ones.

Keep='last' keeps the last duplicate and removes earlier ones.

Keep=False removes all duplicates, keeping only unique rows.

Practice

1.

In pandas, what does keep='first' do when removing duplicates?

easy

A. Keeps the first occurrence of each duplicate and removes the rest

B. Keeps the last occurrence of each duplicate and removes the rest

C. Removes all duplicates, keeping only unique rows

D. Keeps all duplicates without removing any

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the meaning of keep='first'

   This option keeps the first row of each set of duplicates and removes the later ones.

2. Step 2: Compare with other options

   Unlike keep='last' which keeps the last occurrence, keep='first' keeps the earliest one.

3. Final Answer:

   Keeps the first occurrence of each duplicate and removes the rest -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   keep='first' = Keep first duplicate [OK]

Hint: Remember: 'first' keeps earliest duplicate row [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing keep='first' with keep='last'
• Thinking keep='first' removes all duplicates
• Assuming keep='first' keeps all duplicates

2.

Which of the following is the correct syntax to remove duplicates in a pandas DataFrame df keeping only the last occurrence?

df._____('column_name', keep='last')

easy

A. drop_dupes

B. remove_duplicates

C. drop_duplicates

D. delete_duplicates

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the pandas method for removing duplicates

   The correct method is drop_duplicates to remove duplicate rows.

2. Step 2: Confirm syntax for keeping last occurrence

   Using keep='last' inside drop_duplicates keeps the last duplicate row.

3. Final Answer:

   drop_duplicates -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Method to remove duplicates = drop_duplicates [OK]

Hint: Use df.drop_duplicates() to remove duplicates [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using non-existent methods like remove_duplicates
• Confusing method names with similar words
• Forgetting to specify keep='last'

3.

What will be the output of the following code?

import pandas as pd

data = {'A': [1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3], 'B': ['x', 'y', 'y', 'z', 'z', 'z']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
result = df.drop_duplicates(keep=False)
print(result)

medium

A. Rows with unique values only, no duplicates

B. All rows except the first occurrence of duplicates

C. Rows with A=1 B='x', A=2 B='y', A=3 B='z' only

D. Empty DataFrame

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand keep=False behavior

   Using keep=False removes all duplicates, keeping only rows that appear once.

2. Step 2: Identify unique rows in the DataFrame

   In the data, only the row with A=1 and B='x' is unique; others appear multiple times.

3. Final Answer:

   Rows with unique values only, no duplicates -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   keep=False = Keep only unique rows [OK]

Hint: keep=False drops all duplicates, keeps only unique rows [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking keep=False keeps first or last duplicates
• Expecting some duplicates to remain
• Confusing output with keep='first' or keep='last'

4.

Consider this code snippet:

import pandas as pd

data = {'col': [1, 1, 2, 2, 3]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)
result = df.drop_duplicates(keep='middle')
print(result)

What is the error in this code?

medium

A. DataFrame missing required columns

B. Invalid value for the 'keep' parameter

C. Syntax error in DataFrame creation

D. No error, code runs fine

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the 'keep' parameter values

   The valid values for 'keep' are 'first', 'last', or False. 'middle' is invalid.

2. Step 2: Identify the error raised by invalid 'keep'

   Using 'middle' causes a ValueError because pandas does not recognize it.

3. Final Answer:

   Invalid value for the 'keep' parameter -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   keep must be 'first', 'last', or False [OK]

Hint: Use only 'first', 'last', or False for keep parameter [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using unsupported strings for keep
• Assuming 'middle' is valid
• Ignoring error messages

5.

You have a DataFrame df with duplicate rows based on column 'ID'. You want to remove all duplicates completely, so only rows with unique 'ID' remain. Which code snippet achieves this?

1) df.drop_duplicates(subset=['ID'], keep='first')
2) df.drop_duplicates(subset=['ID'], keep='last')
3) df.drop_duplicates(subset=['ID'], keep=False)
4) df.drop_duplicates()

hard

A. Option 1

B. Option 4

C. Option 2

D. Option 3

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the goal

   The goal is to remove all duplicates so only unique 'ID' rows remain.

2. Step 2: Analyze each option

   Options 1 and 2 keep one duplicate (first or last). Option 4 removes duplicates but keeps first by default. Only option 3 with keep=False removes all duplicates completely.

3. Final Answer:

   Option 3 -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   keep=False removes all duplicates [OK]

Hint: Use keep=False to remove all duplicates fully [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using keep='first' or 'last' when full removal needed
• Not specifying subset for duplicate check
• Assuming default drop_duplicates removes all duplicates