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Excel and SQL

datanitro.com

1–10 of 66 posts

Re: Excel and SQL

#3
post #2

Which database is best for stuff like this? And works with Python.

Python has bindings for pretty much everything, so I'd imagine that the database you're most familiar with, or that there is the most information on (most likely MySQL, Postgres, or SQLite)

Re: Excel and SQL

#4
post #2

Which database is best for stuff like this? And works with Python.

Like the article says, SQLite is a good choice when you're starting out. It's included in Python and is great for the basics.

Once you have a lot of data, it really depends on your specific situation. If you don't have any preferences, you can try something new - MongoDB is interesting.

Re: Excel and SQL

#5
Oof, DataNitro being Windows-only is a major bummer. Something like this could be hugely useful for slightly less technical analysts on my team.

Anyone know of a Mac OS X friendly alternative?

Re: Excel and SQL

#6
post #5

Oof, DataNitro being Windows-only is a major bummer. Something like this could be hugely useful for slightly less technical analysts on my team. Anyone know of a Mac OS X friendly alternative?

Yes, DataNitro only works with Windows versions of MS Excel. Maybe a VM/Parallels with Windows + Excel would work for you?

Re: Excel and SQL

#7
post #2

Which database is best for stuff like this? And works with Python.

Like the article says, SQLite is a good choice when you're starting out. It's included in Python and is great for the basics. Once you have a lot of data, it really depends on your specific situation. If you don't have any preferences, you can try something new - MongoDB is interesting.

MongoDB/NoSQL is not for the type of analysis mentioned in the article and is NOT a replacement for a spreadsheet.

Out of all the nosql options, why pick the one with the most broken default configuration? People complain that MongoDB is has a bad rep when used for things its not meant to, and then its constantly offered as solution.

Re: Excel and SQL

#8
"DataNitro is embedded in Excel." So users need to install something? Yuck. That doesn't work for us.

We use handsontable (like Google Docs spreadsheet) with a MySQL back end. Users just need a web browser to edit data. I wouldn't call it a replacement for Excel, just a way for non-technical people to edit info in a database.

Re: Excel and SQL

#9
post #2

Which database is best for stuff like this? And works with Python.

Python has bindings for pretty much everything, so I'd imagine that the database you're most familiar with, or that there is the most information on (most likely MySQL, Postgres, or SQLite)

I'd suggest SQLite unless you had a ton of users interacting all at once (if it's something involving editing excel spreadsheets, I doubt you'd have a problem with this).

Re: Excel and SQL

#10
post #5

Oof, DataNitro being Windows-only is a major bummer. Something like this could be hugely useful for slightly less technical analysts on my team. Anyone know of a Mac OS X friendly alternative?

As an alternative RStudio [1] offers a decent GUI on top of R, which can load data via SQL. It doesn't give you WYSIWYG editing of data, but you can manipulate data frames as if they were SQL with the sqldf package [2]. The learning curve is very steep though so it's not a perfect alternative.

[1] : http://www.rstudio.com/

[2] : https://code.google.com/p/sqldf/

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