ENH: Add the observed parameter to get_dummies

[alonme]

Feature Type

• Adding new functionality to pandas

• Changing existing functionality in pandas

• Removing existing functionality in pandas

Problem Description

The get_dummies function creates columns for all possible values of categorical series and not the ones that are observed, or are actually in the passed dataframe

Example:

In [1]: import pandas as pd

In [2]: df = pd.DataFrame({'letter':['a','b','c']})

In [3]: pd.get_dummies(df[df['letter'] == 'a'])
Out[3]:
   letter_a
0         1

In [4]: df['letter'] = df['letter'].astype("category")

In [5]: pd.get_dummies(df[df['letter'] == 'a'])
Out[5]:
   letter_a  letter_b  letter_c
0         1         0         0

Feature Description

Add the observed parameter to the get_dummies function, which will have the same behavior as the parameter with the same name in the groupby functions

Alternative Solutions

1. Change the behavior to always use the observed values only
2. Document this behavior so its clear to users (users can remove the unneeded columns later if they want to)

Additional Context

No response