Integer parameter in pandas dataframe drop function

Question

Look at the following code:

X = np.array(df.drop(['label'], 1))

Could you kindly clarify how does number 1 does? 

From the documentation, I comprehend that DataFrame.drop function drops the wanted column named 'label' from the dataframe and returns a new dataframe without this column. Be that as it may, I don't comprehend what does this specific number parameter 1 does.

Answer 1

It is actually the parameter axis in drop. It is equivalent to axis=1. Also, it implies you need to eliminate columns from DataFrame which are indicated in the first parameter labels: 

labels are discarded on most occasions. 

The parameter axis can also be eliminated if need eliminates the row with its index, in light of the fact that naturally axis=0. Parameter axis=1 is at times supplanted by 1, because that less text, yet it is worse readable.

import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'label':[1,2,3],

                   'label1':[4,5,6],

                   'label2':[7,8,9]})

print (df)

   label  label1  label2

0      1       4       7

1      2       5       8

2      3       6       9

print (df.drop(['label'], 1))

   label1  label2

0       4       7

1       5       8

2       6       9

#most commonly used

print (df.drop(['label'], axis=1))

   label1  label2

0       4       7

1       5       8

2       6       9

print (df.drop(labels=['label'], axis=1))

   label1  label2

0       4       7

1       5       8

2       6       9

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