replicate select_columns on the index

[samukweku]

select_columns can be adapted to index selection as well; not sure about the name though ---> select_index/select_rows?

df.select_index()
df.select_rows()

[ericmjl]

Some of the great work you've done, @samukweku, like incorporating slice()s, would be usable here too! Out of curiosity, what prompted the idea here?

[samukweku]

Thanks @ericmjl . I have come to love the flexibility/abstraction of select_columns hence the idea of extending it to rows.

[ericmjl]

Got it!

select_rows() would be a great addition, definitely.

I can also see us building on top of select_columns() and select_rows() to provide a select(rows=..., columns=...) API that then dispatches down to select_columns() and select_rows(). It would be a nicely chained API that could be more flexible than the built-in .loc[] calls.

[samukweku]

Yea, that would be great. Not sure of the select word though, it seems pandas has plans for that too : pandas-dev/pandas#40322