How to Use Excel's REVERSE Function in Pandas

Reversing data can be done at many different levels. You might want to reverse the order of a single value, a list, a pandas series, or an entire dataframe. This page offers a comprehensive guide to implementing Excel's data reversing functionalities in Python using pandas.

Implementing the Reversing Data function in Pandas#

In pandas, reversing data is straightforward and can be applied to different structures such as lists, DataFrames, or specific columns. Here are some common implementations:

Reverse a single value#

Reversing a single value in Python is straighforward -- simply use slicing with [::-1].

In the below example, if original_value = 'hello', then reversed_value = 'olleh'.

reversed_value = original_value[::-1]

Copy!

Reverse a list#

Reversing an entire list in pandas is similar to reverseing a single value. Instead of applying the sliceing to a single value, apply it to the entire list!

In the below example, if original_list = [1, 2, 3], then reversed_list = [3, 2, 1].

reversed_list = original_list[::-1]

Copy!

Reverse every value in pandas series#

To reverse every value in a pandas series, apply the same string slicing method to the entire series using the .apply() function.

In the below example, if df['A'] = ['hello', 'world'], then the reversed df['A'] = ['olleh', 'dlrow'].

# Reverse every value in series
df['A'] = df['A'].apply(lambda x: x[::-1])

Copy!

Reverse an entire dataframe#

Reversing the order of rows in a dataframe can be done using similar Python code. This time, instead of applying the slicing to the series, apply it to the entire dataframe.

In the below example if df = {'A': [1, 2], 'B': [3, 4]}, then the reversed df = {'A': [2, 1], 'B': [4, 3]}.

df = df[::-1].reset_index(drop=True)

Copy!

Common mistakes when using REVERSE in Python#

While reversing data in pandas is generally straightforward, there are some common mistakes you might run into.

Forgetting to Reset Index#

After reversing a dataframe, the index order will also be reversed. However, its most common to operate on pandas Dataframes whose indexes are in ascending order starting from 0.

In order to reset the index to the default ascending order, use the df.reset_index() function after reverssing the dataframe.

df = df.iloc[::-1].reset_index(drop=True)

Copy!

Understanding the Reversing Data Formula in Excel#

Excel does not have a direct REVERSE function, but similar outcomes can be achieved through creative uses other Excel formulas.

For example, if you wanted to reverse the text in A1, you could use the complicated formula: =TEXTJOIN("", TRUE, MID(A1, LEN(A1) + 1 - ROW(INDIRECT("1:" & LEN(A1))), 1)), which works by using the MID function to extract each character from the text in A1, starting from the end of the text and working backwards.

Or instead, if you wanted to reverse the order of cells A1:A10, you could first label each row with a number using the formula '=ROW()' in B1:B10. Then, you could sort the values in A1:A10 by arranging the values in B1:B10 in descending order. The formula would look like '=SORT(A1:B10, 2, -1)'.

The good news is that reversing data in pandas is much easier than in Excel.