Performance Issue: Slow read_csv() Function with pandas Version 1.3.4 for CSV Files
Issue Description:
Hello.
I have discovered a performance degradation in the read_csv function of pandas version 1.3.4 when handling CSV files with a large number of columns. This problem significantly increases the loading time from just a few seconds in the previous version 1.2.5 to several minutes, almost 60x diff. I found some discussions on GitHub related to this issue, including #44106 and #44192.
I found that analysis/feature_analysis.ipynb and data_loader/data_loader_ml.py both used the influenced api.
Steps to Reproduce:
I have created a small reproducible example to better illustrate this issue.
# v1.3.4
import os
import pandas
import numpy
import timeit
def generate_sample():
if os.path.exists("test_small.csv.gz") == False:
nb_col = 100000
nb_row = 5
feature_list = {'sample': ['s_' + str(i+1) for i in range(nb_row)]}
for i in range(nb_col):
feature_list.update({'feature_' + str(i+1): list(numpy.random.uniform(low=0, high=10, size=nb_row))})
df = pandas.DataFrame(feature_list)
df.to_csv("test_small.csv.gz", index=False, float_format="%.6f")
def load_csv_file():
col_names = pandas.read_csv("test_small.csv.gz", low_memory=False, nrows=1).columns
types_dict = {col: numpy.float32 for col in col_names}
types_dict.update({'sample': str})
feature_df = pandas.read_csv("test_small.csv.gz", index_col="sample", na_filter=False, dtype=types_dict, low_memory=False)
print("loaded dataframe shape:", feature_df.shape)
generate_sample()
timeit.timeit(load_csv_file, number=1)
# results
loaded dataframe shape: (5, 100000)
120.37690759263933
# v1.3.5
import os
import pandas
import numpy
import timeit
def generate_sample():
if os.path.exists("test_small.csv.gz") == False:
nb_col = 100000
nb_row = 5
feature_list = {'sample': ['s_' + str(i+1) for i in range(nb_row)]}
for i in range(nb_col):
feature_list.update({'feature_' + str(i+1): list(numpy.random.uniform(low=0, high=10, size=nb_row))})
df = pandas.DataFrame(feature_list)
df.to_csv("test_small.csv.gz", index=False, float_format="%.6f")
def load_csv_file():
col_names = pandas.read_csv("test_small.csv.gz", low_memory=False, nrows=1).columns
types_dict = {col: numpy.float32 for col in col_names}
types_dict.update({'sample': str})
feature_df = pandas.read_csv("test_small.csv.gz", index_col="sample", na_filter=False, dtype=types_dict, low_memory=False)
print("loaded dataframe shape:", feature_df.shape)
generate_sample()
timeit.timeit(load_csv_file, number=1)
# results
loaded dataframe shape: (5, 100000)
2.8567268839105964
Suggestion
I would recommend considering an upgrade to a different version of pandas >= 1.3.5 or exploring other solutions to optimize the performance of loading CSV files. Any other workarounds or solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Thank you very much for the suggestion! We will upgrade in the next version of the updates