在数据分析行业，对数据提出的每一个问题都可以用多种潜在的语言和工具包来回答。每种语言都有其优势，它们之间也存在着不同的区别。不能否认的是，有些操作用Python执行起来要比SQL更加高效。这篇文章分享了4个能够节省时间的案例，在这几个案例中，Python在探索和分析数据集方面远远优于SQL。

描述性统计

假设你正在探索新的数据集，可以使用许多不同的方法来统计描述这些数据，并得到总体感知。例如：

· 计数

· 平均值

· 标准偏差

· 最小值

· 第一四分位数

· 第二四分位数(中位数)

· 第三四分位数

· 最大值

要想在SQL中得到以上信息，你需要输入：

SELECT ROUND(MIN(first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS min,

ROUND(PERCENTILE_CONT(0.25) WITHIN

GROUP (ORDER BY first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS pc25,

ROUND(PERCENTILE_CONT(0.50) WITHIN

GROUP (ORDER BY first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS median,

ROUND(AVG(first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS mean,

ROUND(PERCENTILE_CONT(0.75) WITHIN

GROUP (ORDER BY first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS pc75,

ROUND(MAX(first_class_rev)::numeric, 2) AS max

FROM tutorial.flight_revenue

但也许你并不想输入以上所有代码。你可以使用pandas的DataFrame.describe()函数来得出基础数据集的基本描述性统计信息。

datasets['Python Input'].describe().round(1)

查看此报告并仿照该报告自行探索描述性统计。

移动平均值

假设你现在想计算移动平均值，以便于在输入不断变化的情况下得到其明确的平均值。移动平均值有助于消除数据骤降和峰值的影响，从而使长期趋势更加显而易见。

在SQL中，你可以输入这样的查询（query）：

WITH input AS (

SELECT

COUNT(1) AS trips,

DATE_TRUNC('day',start_date) AS date

FROM modeanalytics.sf_bike_share_trip

GROUP BY 2

)

SELECT

trips,

AVG(trips) over (order BY date rows between 13 preceding AND current row) AS mvg_avg, -- Window function to calculate 14-day moving average of ride share trips

SUM(trips) over (order BY date rows unbounded preceding) AS running_total_trips, -- Window function to calculate the running total number of ride share trips

lag(trips,7) over (order BY date) AS num_trips_previous_day, -- Window function to grab the number of trips on the previous day

trips - lag(trips,7) over (order BY date) AS wow_difference,

(trips - lag(trips,7) over (order BY date))/lag(trips,7) over (order BY date)::DECIMAL(18,2) AS wow_percent_change, -- Window function to calculate the week-over-week percent increase in trips

date

FROM input

ORDER BY date;

在Python中，只需以下代码便可快速得到相同的两周移动平均值：

import numpy as np

import pandas as pd

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

df = datasets["Trips - Python Window"]

df["mvg_avg"] = df.trips.rolling(14).mean()

另外，Python能够进一步实现可视化。

枢轴

要想重新排列数据与枢轴以绘制图表或是演示文稿格式，在SQL中需要几个步骤才能实现。在这个案例中，需要将Mode Public Warehouse中大学橄榄球运动员的数据集从行枢轴转换到列枢轴。

首先，要汇总每年、每场比赛的运动员的信息来准备数据。

SELECT teams.conference AS conference,

players.year,

COUNT(1) AS players

FROM benn.college_football_players players

JOIN benn.college_football_teams teams

ON teams.school_name = players.school_name

GROUP BY 1,2

ORDER BY 1,2

转换数据之后，需要将查询（query）嵌入子查询（subquery）中。

SELECT *

FROM (

SELECT teams.conference AS conference,

players.year,

COUNT(1) AS players

FROM benn.college_football_players players

JOIN benn.college_football_teams teams

ON teams.school_name = players.school_name

GROUP BY 1,2

) sub

接下来，如果你想将结果按照年份分成几列，可以用SELECT语句为每个项单独创建列。

SELECT conference,

SUM(CASE WHEN year = 'FR' THEN players ELSE NULL END) AS fr,

SUM(CASE WHEN year = 'SO' THEN players ELSE NULL END) AS so,

SUM(CASE WHEN year = 'JR' THEN players ELSE NULL END) AS jr,

SUM(CASE WHEN year = 'SR' THEN players ELSE NULL END) AS sr

FROM (

SELECT teams.conference AS conference,

players.year,

COUNT(1) AS players

FROM benn.college_football_players players

JOIN benn.college_football_teams teams

ON teams.school_name = players.school_name

GROUP BY 1,2

) sub

GROUP BY 1

ORDER BY 1

虽然这能使你很好地控制查询和进程，但是用Python操作实则要更加轻松。当你从年份和比赛中SELECT大学橄榄球运动员后，可以跳转到Notebook并运行DataFrame.pivot。你能根据列值重塑数据，因而可以重新排列结果集。

DataFrame.pivot

自连接

在很多情况下，你可能想要将一个表与其自身连接起来。要想创建自连接（self join），需要先输入此查询，以便为同一张表创建不同的引用名称。

SELECT DISTINCT japan_investments.company_name,

japan_investments.company_permalink

FROM tutorial.crunchbase_investments_part1 japan_investments

JOIN tutorial.crunchbase_investments_part1 gb_investments

ON japan_investments.company_name = gb_investments.company_name

AND gb_investments.investor_country_code = 'GBR'

AND gb_investments.funded_at > japan_investments.funded_at

WHERE japan_investments.investor_country_code = 'JPN'

ORDER BY 1

在pandas中，我们可以这样实现：

d = pd.DataFrame(['A','B','C'], columns = ['Column_1'])

d['Column_2'] = [1,2,1]

d.join(d.drop('Column_2', 1), on='Column_2', rsuffix='.1')

想自己尝试建立自连接吗？仿照这篇报告来撰写你的个人Mode报告吧！