Learning pandas from Scratch: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reading CSV Files

This article introduces the introductory steps to learning pandas for data processing, with the core being reading CSV files and performing basic data operations. First, pandas is likened to the "steward" of data processing, and reading CSV is the first step in data analysis. The steps include: installing pandas (using `pip install`, or skipping if pre-installed with Anaconda/Jupyter); importing pandas as `import pandas as pd`; reading the CSV file with `pd.read_csv()` to generate a DataFrame; viewing data using `head()`/`tail()` for preview, `info()` to check data types and missing values, and `describe()` for numerical statistics; handling special formats such as Chinese garbled characters (via `encoding`), delimiters (via `sep`), and no header rows (via `names`). The article concludes by summarizing the basic skills acquired, noting that this is just the beginning of data processing, and subsequent advanced operations like filtering and cleaning can be learned next.