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Categories as Numbers

Models need numbers, but data has words like "Accra" or "red". One-hot encoding turns each category into its own 0/1 column. In Pandas, pd.get_dummies does it. Use it for categories with no natural order (cities, colours). Do not simply number them 1, 2, 3, because that tells the model that Kumasi is "bigger" than Accra.

Examplepython
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Quick check

Why one-hot encode a city column rather than number the cities 1, 2, 3?

Your turn: write the code

One-hot encode the 'colour' column and print the list of column names.

Finish the quick check (and any code exercise) to complete this lesson, or mark it done yourself.

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