Swap Odd and Even Columns in a Pandas DataFrame – 3 Simple Python Methods

Introduction

In a recent Python community challenge, participants were asked to write code that swaps the positions of odd‑numbered and even‑numbered columns in a Pandas DataFrame (e.g., turning column A, B into B, A).

Method One

A contributor named kiddo offered a solution with full code and output screenshots.

Method Two

Another participant, 月神 , simplified the solution to a single line that reorders the columns using a list comprehension.

df = df[[df.columns[index + (-1) ** index] for index in range(len(df.columns))]]

Method Three

A third approach combines NumPy with Pandas to achieve the same column swap in a compact form.

import numpy as
import pandas as

en = 'abcdef'
df = pd.DataFrame([[i + j for j in list(en)] for i in list(en)], columns=list(en.upper()), index=list(en.upper()))
print('源数据')
print(df)
# swap columns
df = df[np.array((df.columns[1::2], df.columns[::2])).flatten('F')]
print('转换后')
print(df)

Conclusion

The article summarizes the three practical methods for swapping odd and even columns in a Pandas DataFrame, encouraging readers to experiment and share alternative solutions.