ENH: copy keyword to set_axis

doc/source/whatsnew/v1.5.0.rst

@@ -279,6 +279,7 @@ Other enhancements
 - :class:`Series` reducers (e.g. ``min``, ``max``, ``sum``, ``mean``) will now successfully operate when the dtype is numeric and ``numeric_only=True`` is provided; previously this would raise a ``NotImplementedError`` (:issue:`47500`)
 - :meth:`RangeIndex.union` now can return a :class:`RangeIndex` instead of a :class:`Int64Index` if the resulting values are equally spaced (:issue:`47557`, :issue:`43885`)
 - :meth:`DataFrame.compare` now accepts an argument ``result_names`` to allow the user to specify the result's names of both left and right DataFrame which are being compared. This is by default ``'self'`` and ``'other'`` (:issue:`44354`)
+- Added ``copy`` keyword to :meth:`Series.set_axis` and :meth:`DataFrame.set_axis` to allow user to set axis on a new object without necessarily copying the underlying data (:issue:`??`)
 
 .. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 .. _whatsnew_150.notable_bug_fixes:

pandas/core/frame.py

@@ -5010,17 +5010,34 @@ def align(
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[False] = ...
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[False] = ...,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> DataFrame:
         ...
 
     @overload
-    def set_axis(self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[True]) -> None:
+    def set_axis(
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[True],
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
+    ) -> None:
         ...
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: bool = ...
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: bool = ...,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> DataFrame | None:
         ...
 
@@ -5064,8 +5081,14 @@ def set_axis(
         see_also_sub=" or columns",
     )
     @Appender(NDFrame.set_axis.__doc__)
-    def set_axis(self, labels, axis: Axis = 0, inplace: bool = False):
-        return super().set_axis(labels, axis=axis, inplace=inplace)
+    def set_axis(
+        self,
+        labels,
+        axis: Axis = 0,
+        inplace: bool = False,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = lib.no_default,
+    ):
+        return super().set_axis(labels, axis=axis, inplace=inplace, copy=copy)
 
     @Substitution(**_shared_doc_kwargs)
     @Appender(NDFrame.reindex.__doc__)

pandas/core/generic.py

@@ -708,23 +708,43 @@ def size(self) -> int:
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self: NDFrameT, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[False] = ...
+        self: NDFrameT,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[False] = ...,
+        copy: bool_t | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> NDFrameT:
         ...
 
     @overload
-    def set_axis(self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[True]) -> None:
+    def set_axis(
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[True],
+        copy: bool_t | lib.NoDefault = ...,
+    ) -> None:
         ...
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self: NDFrameT, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: bool_t = ...
+        self: NDFrameT,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: bool_t | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> NDFrameT | None:
         ...
 
     @deprecate_nonkeyword_arguments(version=None, allowed_args=["self", "labels"])
     def set_axis(
-        self: NDFrameT, labels, axis: Axis = 0, inplace: bool_t = False
+        self: NDFrameT,
+        labels,
+        axis: Axis = 0,
+        inplace: bool_t = False,
+        copy: bool_t | lib.NoDefault = lib.no_default,
     ) -> NDFrameT | None:
         """
         Assign desired index to given axis.
@@ -744,6 +764,11 @@ def set_axis(
         inplace : bool, default False
             Whether to return a new %(klass)s instance.
 
+        copy : bool, default True
+            Whether to make a copy of the underlying data.
+
+            .. versionadded:: 1.5.0
+
         Returns
         -------
         renamed : %(klass)s or None
@@ -753,16 +778,25 @@ def set_axis(
         --------
         %(klass)s.rename_axis : Alter the name of the index%(see_also_sub)s.
         """
+        if inplace:
+            if copy is True:
+                raise ValueError("Cannot specify both inplace=True and copy=True")
+            copy = False
+        elif copy is lib.no_default:
+            copy = True
+
         self._check_inplace_and_allows_duplicate_labels(inplace)
-        return self._set_axis_nocheck(labels, axis, inplace)
+        return self._set_axis_nocheck(labels, axis, inplace, copy=copy)
 
     @final
-    def _set_axis_nocheck(self, labels, axis: Axis, inplace: bool_t):
+    def _set_axis_nocheck(self, labels, axis: Axis, inplace: bool_t, copy: bool_t):
         # NDFrame.rename with inplace=False calls set_axis(inplace=True) on a copy.
         if inplace:
             setattr(self, self._get_axis_name(axis), labels)
         else:
-            obj = self.copy()
+            # With copy=False, we create a new object but don't copy the
+            #  underlying data.
+            obj = self.copy(deep=copy)
             obj.set_axis(labels, axis=axis, inplace=True)
             return obj
 
@@ -1050,7 +1084,7 @@ def _rename(
                     raise KeyError(f"{missing_labels} not found in axis")
 
             new_index = ax._transform_index(f, level=level)
-            result._set_axis_nocheck(new_index, axis=axis_no, inplace=True)
+            result._set_axis_nocheck(new_index, axis=axis_no, inplace=True, copy=False)
             result._clear_item_cache()
 
         if inplace:

pandas/core/series.py

@@ -4926,17 +4926,34 @@ def rename(
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[False] = ...
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[False] = ...,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> Series:
         ...
 
     @overload
-    def set_axis(self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: Literal[True]) -> None:
+    def set_axis(
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: Literal[True],
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
+    ) -> None:
         ...
 
     @overload
     def set_axis(
-        self, labels, *, axis: Axis = ..., inplace: bool = ...
+        self,
+        labels,
+        *,
+        axis: Axis = ...,
+        inplace: bool = ...,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = ...,
     ) -> Series | None:
         ...
 
@@ -4968,9 +4985,13 @@ def set_axis(
     )
     @Appender(NDFrame.set_axis.__doc__)
     def set_axis(  # type: ignore[override]
-        self, labels, axis: Axis = 0, inplace: bool = False
+        self,
+        labels,
+        axis: Axis = 0,
+        inplace: bool = False,
+        copy: bool | lib.NoDefault = lib.no_default,
     ) -> Series | None:
-        return super().set_axis(labels, axis=axis, inplace=inplace)
+        return super().set_axis(labels, axis=axis, inplace=inplace, copy=copy)
 
     # error: Cannot determine type of 'reindex'
     @doc(

pandas/tests/frame/methods/test_set_axis.py

@@ -24,6 +24,37 @@ def test_set_axis(self, obj):
         result = obj.set_axis(new_index, axis=0, inplace=False)
         tm.assert_equal(expected, result)
 
+    def test_set_axis_copy(self, obj):
+        # Test copy keyword
+        new_index = list("abcd")[: len(obj)]
+
+        expected = obj.copy()
+        expected.index = new_index
+
+        with pytest.raises(
+            ValueError, match="Cannot specify both inplace=True and copy=True"
+        ):
+            obj.set_axis(new_index, axis=0, inplace=True, copy=True)
+
+        result = obj.set_axis(new_index, axis=0, copy=True)
+        tm.assert_equal(expected, result)
+        assert result is not obj
+        # check we DID make a copy
+        assert not tm.shares_memory(result, obj)
+
+        result = obj.set_axis(new_index, axis=0, copy=False)
+        tm.assert_equal(expected, result)
+        assert result is not obj
+        # check we did NOT make a copy
+        assert tm.shares_memory(result, obj)
+
+        # copy defaults to True
+        result = obj.set_axis(new_index, axis=0)
+        tm.assert_equal(expected, result)
+        assert result is not obj
+        # check we DID make a copy
+        assert not tm.shares_memory(result, obj)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("axis", [0, "index", 1, "columns"])
     def test_set_axis_inplace_axis(self, axis, obj):
         # GH#14636