Comparing two pandas dataframes for differences

Question

I\'ve got a script updating 5-10 columns worth of data , but sometimes the start csv will be identical to the end csv so instead of writing an identical csvfile I want it to

Answer 1

Check using: df_1.equals(df_2) # Returns True or False, details herebelow

In [45]: import numpy as np

In [46]: import pandas as pd

In [47]: np.random.seed(5)

In [48]: df_1= pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(3,3))

In [49]: df_1
Out[49]: 
          0         1         2
0  0.441227 -0.330870  2.430771
1 -0.252092  0.109610  1.582481
2 -0.909232 -0.591637  0.187603

In [50]: np.random.seed(5)

In [51]: df_2= pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(3,3))

In [52]: df_2
Out[52]: 
          0         1         2
0  0.441227 -0.330870  2.430771
1 -0.252092  0.109610  1.582481
2 -0.909232 -0.591637  0.187603

In [53]: df_1.equals(df_2)
Out[53]: True


In [54]: df_3= pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(3,3))

In [55]: df_3
Out[55]: 
          0         1         2
0 -0.329870 -1.192765 -0.204877
1 -0.358829  0.603472 -1.664789
2 -0.700179  1.151391  1.857331

In [56]: df_1.equals(df_3)
Out[56]: False