[python] How to slice a Pandas Data Frame by position?

I have a Pandas Data Frame object that has 1000 rows and 10 columns. I would simply like to slice the Data Frame and take the first 10 rows. How can I do this? I've been trying to use this:

>>> df.shape
(1000,10)
>>> my_slice = df.ix[10,:]
>>> my_slice.shape
(10,)

Shouldn't my_slice be the first ten rows, ie. a 10 x 10 Data Frame? How can I get the first ten rows, such that my_slice is a 10x10 Data Frame object? Thanks.

dataframe[:n] - Will return first n-1 rows

I can see at least three options:

1.

df[:10]

2. Using head

df.head(10)

For negative values of n, this function returns all rows except the last n rows, equivalent to df[:-n] [Source].

3. Using iloc

df.iloc[:10]

You can also do as a convenience:

df[:10]

df.ix[10,:] gives you all the columns from the 10th row. In your case you want everything up to the 10th row which is df.ix[:9,:]. Note that the right end of the slice range is inclusive: http://pandas.sourceforge.net/gotchas.html#endpoints-are-inclusive