The difference between Python and Pandas is a topic that often confuses some beginners in the Python ecosystem.

In this article, you'll learn about the differences between Python and Pandas, and what they are used for.

You'll start by learning what each technology is used for, then you'll see their differences in tabular format.

Let's get started!

What Is Python Used For?

Python is a popular high-level, general-purpose programming language. Python has a simple syntax that is easy to read, write and understand.  

It has an active open source community.

Python has a variety of libraries and frameworks that can be used in developing different applications and products.

Here are some of the use cases for Python:

  • Web development: Python can be used to create full-stack web applications using frameworks Django, and Flask.
  • Machine Learning: You can use Python libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and so on to build machine learning models.
  • Game Development: Ren'Py, Pygame, and Panda3D are some of the Python frameworks that can be used to build cross-platform games.  
  • Data Science and Analysis: There are numerous libraries and frameworks that can be used in data science and analysis like Matplotlib, NumPy, Pandas, and so on. They can also be used for scientific computing.

From the use cases above, you should have an idea of the first difference between Python and Pandas — Python is a programming language while Pandas is a Python library.

What Is Pandas Used For?

Pandas is an open source Python library used for manipulating and analyzing data.

Here are some of the use cases:

  • Data manipulation.
  • Data analysis.
  • Data visualization.
  • Machine learning, and so on.

What Are the Differences Between Python and Pandas?

Here are some of the differences between Python and Pandas:

Python Pandas
General-purpose programming language Library for data manipulation and analysis
Uses Python code syntax Extends Python code syntax
Uses data structures like lists, dictionaries, sets, tuples Uses data structures like DataFrame, Panel, Series
Requires additional libraries for data visualization Has built-in functionalities for data visualization

Summary

In this article, we talked about the differences between Python and Pandas. We saw what each of them is used for, and their differences in tabular format.

Python is a general-purpose programming language used in different fields like web development, machine learning, and so on.

Pandas is a Python library used mainly for data manipulation and analysis.

Happy coding!