HACKER Q&A
📣 SMAAART

From Spreadsheets to Data Warehouse


I am a spreadsheets guru/nerd.

At work I have build a spreadsheet based system where we download csv files from a few systems and with a series of spreadsheet, we enrich the data, and compile business reports.

But the entire system is now taxed by the size of the data files and the complexity of the reports that keep piling up.

I want to migrate to a small Data Warehouse; but I need to educate myself.

From the research that I have done I need to learn SQL and Python. I am willing to put on the time.

So, these are my 2 questions for HN:

1. What's the best and inexpensive way to learn SQL and Python online. Low cost is fine since the company will pay for it, but the budget is limited.

2. Is there an online class that is hands-on, so that I can actually build my data warehouse as I am studying?

Thanks in Advance.


  👤 throwaway743 Accepted Answer ✓
Best way to learn is having something you need to build and going for it. Break down what you need to do to achieve what you want. Then find tutorials/explanations for how to write whatever language and whatever methods required to achieve what you need.

With python you're gonna also need to know at least basic navigation in terminal. So start with that, then find an intro to python video to understand the basic syntax and formatting in an editor. From there I'd search maybe things like "open read write csv python", "import csv to sql db with python", "basics writing sql", etc.

Also, there's code academy, but from my experience with it in the early 2010s it didn't do much for me. Best is to just do as mentioned and run everything on your machine rather than an interactive site.

Python and sql aren't hard, so don't stress on difficulty. Just sql imo is rigid and can be annoying and it's boring to write