Write a Python program to sort a given DataFrame by name column in descending order

Sorting a DataFrame by a specific column is a common task in data analysis. Pandas provides the sort_values() method to sort DataFrames by one or more columns in ascending or descending order.

Input DataFrame

Let's start with a sample DataFrame containing Id and Name columns ?

   Id     Name
0   1     Adam
1   2  Michael
2   3    David
3   4     Jack
4   5    Peter

Expected Output

After sorting by Name column in descending order ?

   Id     Name
4   5    Peter
1   2  Michael
3   4     Jack
2   3    David
0   1     Adam

Using sort_values() Method

The sort_values() method sorts DataFrame by the values along the specified axis. To sort in descending order, set ascending=False ?

Syntax

df.sort_values(by='column_name', ascending=False)

Example

import pandas as pd

data = {'Id': [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 'Name': ['Adam', 'Michael', 'David', 'Jack', 'Peter']}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

print("Before sorting:")
print(df)

print("\nAfter sorting by Name in descending order:")
sorted_df = df.sort_values(by='Name', ascending=False)
print(sorted_df)

Before sorting:
   Id     Name
0   1     Adam
1   2  Michael
2   3    David
3   4     Jack
4   5    Peter

After sorting by Name in descending order:
   Id     Name
4   5    Peter
1   2  Michael
3   4     Jack
2   3    David
0   1     Adam

Key Parameters

Conclusion

Use df.sort_values(by='column_name', ascending=False) to sort a DataFrame by any column in descending order. The method returns a new sorted DataFrame while keeping the original unchanged unless inplace=True is specified.