Metadata-Version: 2.1
Name: pdexplorer
Version: 0.0.3
Summary: A Stata emulator for Python/pandas
Author: pandichef
Project-URL: Bug Reports, https://github.com/pypa/sampleproject/issues
Project-URL: Funding, https://donate.pypi.org
Project-URL: Say Thanks!, http://saythanks.io/to/example
Project-URL: Source, https://github.com/pypa/sampleproject/
Classifier: Development Status :: 3 - Alpha
Classifier: Intended Audience :: Developers
Classifier: Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools
Classifier: License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11
Requires-Python: >=3.8, <4
Description-Content-Type: text/markdown
License-File: LICENSE.txt
Requires-Dist: requests
Requires-Dist: pandas>=1.0.0
Requires-Dist: seaborn
Requires-Dist: statsmodels
Requires-Dist: scikit-learn
Requires-Dist: torch
Provides-Extra: dev
Requires-Dist: ipython; extra == "dev"
Requires-Dist: pytest; extra == "dev"

> "...succinctness is power... we take the trouble to develop high-level languages...
> so that we can say (and more importantly, think) in 10 lines of a high-level language what would require 1000 lines of machine language... -[Paul Graham, Succinctness is Power](http://www.paulgraham.com/power.html)

## pdexplorer

**pdexplorer** is a Stata emulator for Python/pandas. In contrast to pandas, Stata syntax achieves succinctness by:

- Using spaces and commas rather than parentheses, brackets, curly braces, and quotes (where possible)
- Specifying a set of concise commands on the "current" dataset rather than cluttering the namespace with multiple datasets
- Being verbose by default i.e., displaying output that represents the results of the command
- Having sensible defaults that cover the majority of use cases and demonstrate common usage
- Allowing for namespace abbreviations for both commands and variable names
- Employing two types of column names: Variable name are concise and used for programming. Variable labels are verbose
  and used for presentation.

## My Story

I used Stata for 7 years for both data exploration and programming. After that, I used Python/pandas for 3 years and
found that pandas is just too verbose and "explicit" for rapid data exploration. So I started working on this project
on September 3, 2023.

## Why not use Stata instead of pandas?

Stata is great, but Python/pandas is free and easier to integrate with other applications. For example, you can
build a web server in Python, but not Stata; You can run Python in AWS SageMmaker, but not Stata.

Additionally, even for devout Stata users, there is utility in being able to run Stata commands through a Python stack for
comparison purposes.

## How `pdexplorer` fulfills the Zen of Python (compared to pandas)

| PASS                                                                  | FAIL                                                      |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Beautiful is better than ugly.                                        | Explicit is better than implicit.                         |
| Simple is better than complex.                                        | In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess. |
| Flat is better than nested.                                           |
| Readability counts.                                                   |
| Although practicality beats purity.                                   |
| There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it. |
| Now is better than never.                                             |

## How `pdexplorer` differs from Stata

- Commands are implemented as Python functions and hence require at least one set of parentheses
- `pdexplorer` uses Python libraries under the hood. The result of a command reflects the output of those libraries,
  even when they differ from Stata.
- There is no support for [mata](https://www.stata.com/features/overview/introduction-to-mata/). Under the hood,
  `pdexplorer` is just the Python data stack.

## References

- https://aeturrell.github.io/coding-for-economists/coming-from-stata.html
- https://www.stata.com/manuals13/u27.pdf
- https://www.stata.com/manuals13/u11.pdf

## DELETEME

- DataFrame singleton
- concise language for data wrangling
- easy export to excel
- smf/patsy syntax best for regressions
- plots using Stata data table meta data e.g., variable labels

General form of Stata command:

```
command(varlist, expression, if, in, weight, options, by)
```

## Syntax summary

With few exceptions, the basic Stata language syntax (as documented [here](https://www.stata.com/manuals/u11.pdf)) is

```stata
[by varlist:] command [varlist] [=exp] [if exp] [in range] [weight] [, options]
```

where square brackets distinguish optional qualifiers and options from required ones. In this diagram,
varlist denotes a list of variable names, command denotes a Stata command, exp denotes an algebraic
expression, range denotes an observation range, weight denotes a weighting expression, and options
denotes a list of options.

The `by varlist:` prefix causes Stata to repeat a command for each subset of the data for which the
values of the variables in varlist are equal. When prefixed with by varlist:, the result of the command
will be the same as if you had formed separate datasets for each group of observations, saved them,
and then gave the command on each dataset separately. The data must already be sorted by varlist,
although by has a sort option.

In pdexplorer, this gets translated to

```python
with by('varlist'):
    command("[varlist] [=exp] [if exp] [in range] [weight] [, options]", *args, **kwargs)
```

where `*args`, and `**kwargs` represent additional arguments that are available in a `pdexplorer` command but
not in the equivalent Stata command.

Sometimes, Stata commands are two words. In such cases, the `pdexplorer` command is a concatenation of the two words. For example,

```stata
label data "label"
```

becomes

```python
labeldata("label")
```
