title: How to return the number of different values in pandas dataframe as an integer
body: <p>I want to count how many different values exists in a pandas dataframe column and return it as an INTEGER. I need to store that number in a variable so I can use it later.</p>
  
  <p>I tried this:</p>
  
  <p><code>count = pd.Series(table.column.nunique())</code></p>
  
  <p>I get the expected result, but as pandas series not as integer, so I can't use it later in my function.</p>
  
  <p>I've also looked for something that could convert it into numeric, but I havn't found anything.</p>