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# pandas.DataFrame.head

DataFrame.head(n=5)

  Return the first n rows.

  This function exhibits the same behavior as `df[:n]`, returning the first `n` rows based on position. It is useful for quickly checking if your object has the right type of data in it.

  When `n` is positive, it returns the first `n` rows. For `n` equal to 0, it returns an empty object. When `n` is negative, it returns all rows except the last `|n|` rows, mirroring the behavior of `df[:n]`.

  If `n` is larger than the number of rows, this function returns all rows.

  Parameters:
    n int, default 5

      Number of rows to select.

  Returns:
    same type as caller

      The first n rows of the caller object.

  See also

  `DataFrame.tail`

    Returns the last n rows.

  Examples

      >>> df = pd.DataFrame(
      ...     {
      ...         "animal": [
      ...             "alligator",
      ...             "bee",
      ...             "falcon",
      ...             "lion",
      ...             "monkey",
      ...             "parrot",
      ...             "shark",
      ...             "whale",
      ...             "zebra",
      ...         ]
      ...     }
      ... )
      >>> df
            animal
      0  alligator
      1        bee
      2     falcon
      3       lion
      4     monkey
      5     parrot
      6      shark
      7      whale
      8      zebra

  Viewing the first 5 lines

      >>> df.head()
            animal
      0  alligator
      1        bee
      2     falcon
      3       lion
      4     monkey

  Viewing the first n lines (three in this case)

      >>> df.head(3)
            animal
      0  alligator
      1        bee
      2     falcon

  For negative values of n

      >>> df.head(-3)
            animal
      0  alligator
      1        bee
      2     falcon
      3       lion
      4     monkey
      5     parrot