python pandas 3 smallest & 3 largest values

Question

How can I find the index of the 3 smallest and 3 largest values in a column in my pandas dataframe? I saw ways to find max and min, but none to get the 3.

Answer 1

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
np.random.seed(1)
x=np.random.randint(1,100,10)
y=np.random.randint(1000,10000,10)

x
array([38, 13, 73, 10, 76,  6, 80, 65, 17,  2])
y
array([8751, 4462, 6396, 6374, 3962, 3516, 9444, 4562, 5764, 9093])

data=pd.DataFrame({"age":x,
               "salary":y})


data.nlargest(5,"age").nsmallest(5,"salary")