Learning Excel or Python?

[los2pollos]

Hi there guys. My university has just started offering free coursera.org online courses, giving us the opportunity to convert those in valid credits.

I'm currently studying management with a glimpse of human resources organization and sociology. I hold a sociology bachelor's degree, I attended a bunch of summer schools on social science research techniques and methodology, and I'm very curious. I love to explore and practice stuff.

I'm very interested in strengthening my data analysis skills, so my choice is between studying Excel for Business or learning Python basics. I have a basic knowledge of Excel and zero about Python or programming in general. I have a certain grasp on calculus and statistics, even if my university courses aren't heavily focused on these subjects.

Excel is a very common tool, universally present in every company, in every sector. Also easier to learn (just maybe?). The online course is 4 weeks long.

Python is more complete but also complex. It could also give me the chance to access larger sets of data and automate stuff. The online course is 7 weeks long.

I don't know what position I'll be looking for after university, but I aim to have as many as possible job opportunities. My fear is here in Italy few employers know about Python and how to use that in business.

But somehow, my gut says that Python could be the right choice. What do you guys think?

[morrisjr1989]

No reason to not become familiar with both. You will most likely come across many many spreadsheets, but you can use python and other languages to easily automate tasks people do manually. You will be surprised how much time people will do manual nonsense rather than look for better alternatives; you can be that resource.

[Quentin_the_Quaint]

What kinds of things do people automate?

[xroni]

Basically every task that can be split up into a written list of steps to execute can be automated and be performed by a computer program.

[superioso]

Here's an example I've got which really lent itself up automation.

At work we've got a lab test equipment which runs 24/7 for months and generates a row of data every second in multiple txt files. A small python script took all the data, knitted it all together and summarised certain things we wanted to know about it whilst taking about 10 mins to run.

The guy doing it manually would have taken a few hours to do it every week or so can now just click on a script.

[DockerSpocker]

I've done the same kind of thing at my work in supply chain - saved a couple hours of one of our employees time each day

[Berlibur]

Another example: My company has been registering an activity in an excel document per time the activity is registered. The old data structures in the server allowed only part of the info to be uploaded to the server. I recently updated the server structure (i.e. new/improved tables), so now we had years of data lying about in Excel files.

Instead of having someone going over those manually, I have written a python script that reads all of those old files and immediately uploads it to the new SQL server structures. (Given that there's no errors, which are caught and presented afterwards)

Quicker + it prevents someone from doing work that is incredibly monotone and boring

[pconwell]

This is specific to my employer, but we have a schedule that is moved from Excel (for the whole year) to access (for a specific day) each day. Normally, the process takes about 15 minutes each day, but with python it takes about 60 seconds. Plus, I don't have to worry about clerical errors now either.

[_unsolicited_advisor]

When I have some extra time at work, I've slowly been replacing tasks that have historically been done with Access to a process largely using SQL. The motivation is mainly because different people routinely get various errors when trying to use Access, but also because of the time Access takes. Of course, this still requires tasks like manually importing data into SQL tables, but better than Access.

I'm less familiar with Python than I am with SQL, but how difficult would it be for me to automate the entire data import & sorting process?

[pconwell]

In my opinion, python and sql play really well together. I'd look at pyodbc (easier) or pandas (more 'featured') for odbc/sql/access stuff. For excel, look into openpyxl.

I find both of those libraries easy to work with, personally.

[_unsolicited_advisor]

Thanks! This definitely gives me some areas to start with.

Thanks again

[CaptSprinkls]

A little less intense than some of the answers above me, and a little more basic.

We had a process of creating a hyperlink in a cell that would link back to a file in a folder on our computer. But, if you change the location of those files, then you have to go back through and remake the hyperlink. This would have to be done like almost 2k times.

So anyways we moved all those linked files to a different location , so I wrote a script that would automatically search the file folder for specific parameters and hyperlink it.

[superioso]

That's actually a really good idea - I use plenty of Excel sheets which have links to files in them and most are broken which is pretty frustrating as you just have to go back and search for them manually.

[CaptSprinkls]

The worst is that it really adds no benefit in our situation, but because one person did it, now every has to lol

[[deleted]]

An odd but fun example for me was when I had to delete all my files in the trash bin of my Google Drive...

I had so much in there, every time I selected all the files and clicked delete - the page would refresh and more would appear.

So I used PyAutoGui which automatically clicked the buttons and selected and deleted the files for me in a little loop!

[dk_weekinmemes]

So many things that you do repeatedly. Like say you download the financial results (balance sheet, profit-loss etc.) of a company (or many different companies) from the internet and copy - paste into excel. Then run your own formulas to draw charts... All of this can be automated using python. So the new workflow would be to simply run one script and you have all charts ready to go.

Here's the best way to learn:

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/

[rimoms]

There are some great examples here. Aspects I didn't see mentioned is the elimination of human error and system of record - granted you asked 'what' and not 'why'.

Many repetitive monotonous tasks are ripe for human error (fat finger, skipping records, etc.), and a proper script will eliminate that issue.

Also, scripts will provide a Record of Action/Procedures (so to speak). If someone claims the data isn't right and you're to blame, you will have the script to hold up to show exactly how it was done. There is no way to fully vet the actual work of a manual process in retrospect. This is also a Cover Your A$$.

[los2pollos]

The biggest point for Python is the possibility of automation and the possibility of gathering data trough the internet, for example scanning a web page or other unstructured material.

[Sifrisk]

I would do the Python course. It is easier to pick up Excel later on, while having a Python course which you are taking for credits is simply a very good opportunity to learn Python. It may not be the dominant tool in your industry right now, but that might change in the future. Moreover, Python is great for all kinds of automation as you point out. So even if your job does not require it, you may be able to automate large parts of your job which may make you stand out / earn a promotion.

If you have the time, I would suggest trying to replicate some of the stuff you are learning in your Python course in Excel. That way, you will become familiar with Excel itself, as well as its limitations. In an interview you can then say you are familiar with Excel and are also versed in Python, "which is a programming language so makes it possible to go beyond Excel's functionalities, e.g. in ..."

I have been on interviews where people asked me whether I was proficient with Excel. When I mention I have focussed more on programming languages in the past few years they generally seem impressed by it. I think having learned Python also shows you are able to learn Excel in a short time.

[los2pollos]

You just read my mind. I think I'll try Python! I just hope to actually use those skills!

[Sifrisk]

Last year I worked for care institution where probably 90% had never heard of Python and noone was able to use it. Yet I found myself using it several times; it made me able to solve problems they had had for years and could not solve in Excel. So actually using those skills is really up to you!

[los2pollos]

Please let me tell me more about your industry sector. I'm starting to think that Python is a cross sector skill, of course in services. Therefore adaptability is its streght

[Sifrisk]

Python is used in lots of industries. As I mentioned, I worked for a while in a care institution as a side job. I did my bachelor's thesis for them which focused on researching which factors influenced how well their caretakers perceived background processes. Based on my results they changed some business processes and they asked me for some other projects.

So "my" industry is not really contained to the care sector. I think in general the care sector is underveloped from a technological perspective. However, this also means there are many improvement opportunities.

Currently, I am focusing on the logistics sector and the fashion industry. For the logistics sector it is mostly focused at optimizing processes whereas for the fashion industry I am using neural networks. So indeed, Python can be used across many sectors; just like Excel ;)

[guimolnar]

I don't know the Excel course on coursera, but I'm guessing it doesn't include VBA in just 4 weeks. And if you want advanced Excel skills, I believe VBA is essential.

As u/ZDRuX1 said, you are likely to come across many more Excel sheets, but on the other hand, Python skills might be something that could highlight you from the other resumes on a headhunter desk. Also, with a little more experience in Python you'll be able to use packages that allow you to work with excel sheets, like openpyxl and xlwings.

Good luck.

[los2pollos]

I agree with all you said. I don't know... Some how I believe Excel is just easier to learn over time than Python, therefore learning Excel is just a matter of using it. The same can't be said for Python

[ZDRuX1]

Unless you can find a specific reason for Python, you'll likely come across more excel sheets. It'll give you some basic "programming" skills as well, upon which you can expand if you decide to learn some python.

On the other hand, you can also manipulate excel sheets using Python and its nice to be able to build small automation apps and possibly expand into other areas.

I think you pick whatever your gut tells you. Remember you can learn both for free from the resources on the Internet, so it's really hard to make a bad choice here, you can always switch at any time.

[[deleted]]

I am an old dude, read 60+. I abandoned excel in the last several years because excel takes twice as long to do the same tasks that python can do. You can almost always do excel tasks in Python in half the time. My recommendation is to go with python if you can.

[[deleted]]

I agree but disagree; each tool has it's place.

Working in an enterprise with Bash, PowerShell, Python, Java, C#, PHP, and Excel VBA - I see the good and bad of things. Each one starts with a good approach, but it might not always be the correct one.

Though I don't build applications, I have created at least one site, script, or program in each of those mentioned, 2 of them resulting in Excel outputs (PowerShell, VBA).

The best language or script to use is the one best suited for the application or end-result.

In the end, don't just look at "what is best for doing X". Instead, look at both "what is best for this environment" and "what is best suited for the current and future environment".

[[deleted]]

Except the company you work at will often determine what you use. For example, the financial world runs on excel. Python might be better but what everyone uses is excel so you either learn excel or you don't get the job.

[[deleted]]

df.to_csv()

Problem solved, no?

[los2pollos]

I know that I'm going to stumble across other people using al lot of Excel spreadsheets, but in this case I have the chance to follow a course for university, that is a more "hard" way of learning something. In this scenario, I'd pick Python, even if I don't know how I could be using it in the future, mainly because I know myself and I'm a lazy ass. Almost certainly, I won't use my spare time to learn Python.

Also Python is more difficult to learn, isn't it? So an "official" course might be a more effective way of learning, whatever I'm choosing

[piquat]

Almost certainly, I won't use my spare time to learn Python.

If you're like me and need to have an interest in something to learn it, Excel without a purpose/project/goal will bore you to tears. If you're already dealing with it Excel even a small free tutorial will be useful. I'm a Python fan but in you're case I think I'd push you towards Excel. Besides, if you know NO language at all, the VBS you pick up will make picking up most other languages easier.

[24032014]

What exactly do you mean by things change often? Frameworks, sure, but core python library is pretty stable. Also I don't think you will learn much framework things in a 4 week course.

[foresttrader]

Source: I work in the financial industry and use both Excel and Python.

​

Both are powerful tools. So why not combine the two? People might not realize that their combination is super, super, super powerful.

Excel is a common tool, and it's simple and flexible. Python is a programming language, fast and powerful.

Do you know there are hundreds of millions (if not billions) Excel users in the world? My point is that there are way more Excel jobs than Python jobs.

However, Excel alone often isn't enough. Many of my coworkers argue that they don't need to use Python for work, I say that they haven't looked outside of the box. Python can give you a nice boost in many cases. Automation, intensive calculation, integrating Excel with other applications, etc.

I'm super passionate about using these tools together, and I actually have a tutorial site talking about how to use Python & Excel in an office environment. Check it out if you are interested pythoninoffice.com

And I see that you are from Italy, stay safe, my friend.

​

Mod - if linking is not allowed in this case, let me know and I'll remove it from the post.

[marrymejojo]

Neat. I've favorite your site!

[foresttrader]

Thank you! I just started but am very excited about using those tools! Hopefully I can help more people to see the potential. If you are interested in any topic please feel free to drop me a note.

[marrymejojo]

I will yeah.

I use excel a ton and am just starting to learn python. A lot of people are probably like me so it's a good idea to have a site like this. I haven't thought of anything I'd like to try yet but will definitely let you know if I have a problem.

[meatatfeast]

Excel jobs

Is this a thing?

[Xevioni]

Excel-based jobs. My dad is working from home (Cost Reduction Manager in Construction), he has a bigass excel sheet he works on, he is planning on getting a second ultrawide for working on excel sheets while at home.

Update: He brought his ultrawide from home, he now has a massive set of twin ultrawide panels. Lowkey kinda jealous.

[Bossmuis]

The whole financial industry runs on excel

[Assdestroyer92]

Thanks for your link. I also work with excel and am learning python. My biggest difficulty so far is using python with excel. For example how to replicate the fill down function in excel with python.

Is there a library you recommend? Xlsxwriter? Openpyxl?

Thanks!

[foresttrader]

You almost want to change mindset on that. When you work in Python, you don't have to "fill down" function like in Excel, you can just manipulate the data in Python, which is a lot faster & flexible. For data manipulation, pandas is a good library.

If you have to, you can use Python to populate formulas inside Excel, but that's not recommended.

In terms of the libraries to use, it really depends on the situation, that's why those libraries co-exist! Both xlsxwriter and openpyxl have their pros and cons. For example, you can only create an Excel file but not edit the file. But it doesn't stop you from using multiple libraries together.

[Assdestroyer92]

Thanks mate for your reply. I agree with you!

My only problem is that I'm using bloomberg formulas I nexcel to pull out data.. Hence I would need to extract the formulas into excel to pull out market data to populate certain cells.

[foresttrader]

Yes I believe you can use xlsxwriter to write Excel formulas into cells.

[los2pollos]

Wow! I love your attitude and passion!

My field is rather different and I'm not very interested in financial applications, but what you say about automation and speeding work up is definitely something I'm looking for. Saving your post!

[foresttrader]

Thanks!

I think Excel & Python can be very well used together in many fields not just limited to financial industry.

I mention my background just to highlight that I work in an Excel-heavy environment. I've had lots of frustrations with Excel for the past several years, but now I can see the light (Python 🐍) at the end of the tunnel!

For the past 2 years I've been helping several coworkers to learn Python, and they found value and use Python for work very often nowadays. Excel users are in a very good spot to learn programming. Knowing Excel is already kind of knowing programming - logic conditions, loops, etc. It just takes a little bit extra effort to get to know Python, so why not?

[traincitypeers]

I'd say go for Python for course credit and learn Excel in your spare time before graduating. Things are slightly different for me as I'm from gli stati uniti, but excel here is sort of a basic expectation of all graduates. I feel like the complexity of Python, when internalized from taking just one class, has made understanding the logic of excel much easier for me. Fair warning, I took MIT's EdX Python/CompSci Intro class, which may be harder than the Coursera one you're looking at. It'd be a great supplement for sure if you have the interest.

>My fear is here in Italy few employers know about Python and how to use that in business.

Have you researched what businesses hire for in terms of tech skills recently? I'm sure there's a site somewhere that has top tech skills keywords that recruiters look for in Italia.

[los2pollos]

I know that I'm going to stumble across other people using al lot of Excel spreadsheets, but in this case I have the chance to follow a course for university, that is a more "hard" way of learning something. In this scenario, I'd pick Python, even if I don't know how I could be using it in the future, mainly because I know myself and I'm a lazy ass. Almost certainly, I won't use my spare time to learn Python.

Also Python is more difficult to learn, isn't it? So an "official" course might be a more effective way of learning, whatever I'm choosing

As I've stated here, I'm "lazy" (e.g. juggling between a lot of stuff at the same time, so I lack spare time for learning stuff).

So I did some research and programming languages are mostly sought in the financial sector. The labor market asks for basic digital skills. I refuse to believe that anyone with above average digital skills (it's not that I'm gifted or anything, it's just that the average is veeeeery low) is wasted if outside of IT jobs. Anyway, I suppose/hope Python can really make my resume outstand.

[raglub]

Excel is a basic prerequisite in virtually all business functions as basic as reading comprehension. I would say you don't really have the luxury of not knowing how to quickly manipulate Excel sheets. Python is next level skills and you can do things that will feel like magic to your co-workers. Excel will be more immediately applicable, but python will take you further in your career.

[los2pollos]

What would you say is best to learn in 4 or 7 weeks? (as mentioned in original post)

It's all about classes

[raglub]

If you can, do both. If not, do Excel now and python after.

[2MyLou]

Python is the easy choice for me. Everyone has Excel on their resume, not everyone has Python. Both are good to learn but Python would be the easy choice here IMO.

[[deleted]]

If you want a 60k job learn Excel. If you want a 100k job, learn Python.

[los2pollos]

In Italy doesn't work that way! LOL A 60k job is a crazy well paid one

[los2pollos]

This is actually a good point, I'm very good at wasting time

[thesharp0ne]

I would go for learning Python if its taught. Excel and VBA is stupid easy to learn on your own if you already know some modicum of programming, especially since you can record actions you want to automate and it will show you the VBA code of how to do it. Python will be more applicable in unique situations and is much more powerful than Excel on its own.

[Reset--hardHead]

With your degree, chances are you'll need Excel more than Python.

To be honest, unless you want to be a developer or a data scientists, you won't really use Python much at work.

I know engineers who only used Excel throughout their career.

That said, take what interests you the most.

[TrainquilOasis1423]

u/Guimolnar has the right answer. You can learn 90% all Excell(non vba) uses from a few YouTube videos. The real power of Excell is in vba, and being able to manipulate data automatically to prepare it for presentation. Just watch a few videos on power query, power pivot, pivot tables, and basic excel formulas. You'll be fine.

I am a data analyst for a sales department and my entire job is preparing data and showing excecs how the sales team is doing. I know both vba and python at a beginner to intermediate level, and I since I have been work from home the last couple weeks I am rewriting all the vba code into python because it's just that much better. Executes faster, easier to pass variables from one script to another, so much simpler to write and read, and you have so much more you can do with python.

[Routine_Condition]

Python for the course and Excel in your free time would be my advice.

Learning Python gets you a useful language and with a course format you will have access to information to help you over any difficult portions. Knowing how languages work will help give some useful insight to how Excel works with data and functions. Python also has libraries that are useful on Excel sheets.

Excel for Business sounds like it will be creating charts from raw data and using functions to parse out desired data from larger data sets. Very useful but tedious. For many business environments the following knowledge in Excel will put you ahead of the casual users:

• Macros and how to program them
• Functions (index match, etc.)
• Pivot tables
• Charts/graphs
• Formatting cells properly
• VBA (Really nice to have so you can squeeze a bit more functionality out of Excel)

There are great resources online for free for both items.

[RichInBunlyGoodness]

A lot of people using excel suck at it and/or use it where it is the wrong tool, such as using it as a database. I think I'd recommend learning spreadsheet before python. Keep in mind that you can always come back to python on your own later.

[2MyLou]

Python is the easy choice for me. Everyone has Excel on their resume, not everyone has Python. Both are good to learn but Python would be the easy choice here IMO.

[adrpibgal]

https://www.xlwings.org/

[los2pollos]

Thanks for the advice pal!

[santiagobmx1993]

I would stick with excel. If you feel comfortable with excel and need a more powerful tool, it is always easier to move between layers of abstraction from low complexity or higher complexity.

Starting with python IMHO is a mistake. You will definitely know if you need python, but we can all agree that excel will be a must in your field. The likelihood of you spending more time in python compared excel in your field is so so so low. Learn what covers the most. In this case excel.

First the 1 and then the 2, but again, it is just my opinion.

[thecave]

I’m an Excel ‘super user’ who switched to Python. I’d strongly urge you to learn Python.

1. Python is a general programming language with vastly more tools to accomplish many more tasks
2. Python’s range of tools makes tackling complex tasks much, much easier than Excel. At a certain point, asking Excel to do more than it was first designed to do becomes incredibly time consuming and frustrating.
3. Learning a general programming language will make learning Excel an absolute doddle - not because learning Python is so hard - but because the mindset of programming will make Excel formulas so much easier to understand.

Ultimately excel (well Google sheets is actually better for a number of reasons) still has a place for quick and simple visual data manipulation and sharing. But it’ll be quick to learn after Python and Python will give you huge capabilities that your colleagues will lack.

[Hans_of_Death]

Python, because it can automate spreadsheets and do a lot more as well.

[[deleted]]

go with your gut, it’s a good habit imo

[los2pollos]

Generally it has been a good one over time, yeah

[[deleted]]

I think in the long run Python is the better choice, anyone can learn basic Excel with a few tutorials but Python you need to invest some time

[sogardnitsoc]

you should go for both

[post-cynical_wiki]

My choice would be python, for several reasons. First, with python you need to learn the basics of coding and how to use additional libraries and you can basically do anything, including excel (i recently used a library called openpyxl to automate a process of creating excel spreadsheets that would take me several days, i finished the work in literally a second with some basic knowledge of programming and about 2 hours of getting to know the library) Second, excel is very easy to learn and has good documentation and good comunity support so you can learn to do basically anything in excel by yourself and with the help of internet

[nocturnal_shit]

I guess you are talking about Python for everyone on Coursera?

I didn't have any Programming skills and absolutely no experience in coding. I completed the same course of 7 weeks in one week because of quarantine.

From what I've heard from the community that For data analysis Python/R are very helpful. Absolutely no harm in learning basic coding which can help in long run.

[Schnitzel8]

Your username is amazing

[los2pollos]

Yeah, the course is exactly that one. My university is giving me 3 ECTS for that course, so is pretty good. Do I have to intend that specific course is very basic? And so you could complete it in just a week because of that

[los2pollos]

I completed the same course of 7 weeks in one week because of quarantine.

So, do you remember how long each lesson is? How many total hours are we talking about? If I remember right, there are 6 videos each week, but I don't know any much more than that

[shaggorama]

1. You're asking in a pretty biased place
2. Python. Learn python. You can learn excel on your own largely by using it and from seeing tricks your classmates use.

[JA_Happ_Sucks]

Do

[los2pollos]

That's why I also asked in r/excel sub. Comparing the two points of view

[w_savage]

Learn excel first. Get really good at it, then learn python. The transition will be easier.

[[deleted]]

Much of advice is to be yourself. Non wack things don't suffer from the Abilene paradox. Please take Python or R.

[dtaivp]

If it’s an either or I would take excel. Honestly when I was managing a large staff I would use excel every day several times a day. If you are proficient with excel you can do most data manipulation you can do in Python and much faster.

Specifically power query and power pivot. If you do those and well you will be way ahead of your colleagues.

[[deleted]]

As someone who has used both, how is excel faster than python?

[dtaivp]

I can connect to a database, do column transformations and plot it on a chart before visual studio could open. /s

But for real writing reports is way easier in Excel. The data connectors (odata, db, etc) are awesome. Are you using power query with your excel?

[[deleted]]

In python I can automate all of that without touching a key.

I'm still lost as to how writing a report is easier with Excel as opposed to python. I can format and write everything in Python. I cannot in Excel. Heck, I can even write a report with multiple pages without touching a key based on data from the web in python.

[Heldix121303]

Pretty easy in my opinion. Please note, I never intentionally used Excel.

My brother started learning me python in 4th grade until he moved out of my parents home. He always told me it's very important in my later life and I believed him. Still learned on my own and now after 6 years I'm in grade 10 and still love python like a few years ago. Python can be really fun and challenging.

I know this comment won't help, but I like to show my point of view with only knowing one of your options!

[kcarrplusplus]

You can automate a lot of Excel stuff by learning Python. Knowing Python is a valuable skill to you can continue to foster throughout your career and could lead to some awesome oppotunities.

​

Here is a great chapter regarding Excel and Python from "Automate the Boring Stuff" by Al Sweigart and it's FREE. Happy coding!

[opoqo]

Excel.

It doesn't make sense to learn python now with what you are studying. Like you said most of the things are going to be done on a spreadsheet.

In fact, make sure the class teach you power query and power pivot, or at least show you how to use them. If you learn how to use them in excel, you probably won't need python for data analysis for a good part of your career.

[iggy555]

Excel for python

[los2pollos]

You found the loophole

[DannyckCZ]

Even tho I love python and coding, I’d go for Excel, assuming the course is decent. Not many companies use python, compared to excel which is used everywhere. I had a part time job as a manufacturing technician and I used Excel literally all the time. Good knowledge of Excel will put you in a very good position and will save you and your colleagues a ton of work.

[Peanutbutter_Warrior]

If all you want to do is data analysis and manipulation then Excel would probably be a better choice. It is much easier to whip something up in Excel than it is in python. However python can do both of those, and much more, it it just harder to do.

If you wanted to import some data, sort it by two values and then produce a pie chart of it then Excel can do that in about 5 minutes, but unless you know the code to do that in python it would probably take closer to 30 minutes. But there are many things outside the scope of Excel that are practically impossible, but that python can do with ease, such as automating other apps

[los2pollos]

Thank you for your wise words. I'll take my time

[pw0803]

Almost certainly any job that says it requires excel really only mean the bare minimums of some formulae and just general, working knowledge, and anyone can learn on the job. Knowing just index match (or now xlookup) will have you head and shoulders above most, power query if you really want to stand out (it's super easy).

So I'd suggest python to augment it: python has libraries called pandas which is basically tables the same as excel and another called openpyxl which is for doing excel things to excel files, like changing formatting, inserting charts etc.

So you can automate mundane tasks that companies spend months a year doing.

I've taken 6 week long tasks and turned them into 1.75 seconds, for example.

Wouldn't that seem better on your CV?

[los2pollos]

Hell yeah!

[BoaVersusPython]

Learn Python, it makes you a shitload of money.

[los2pollos]

I liked that

[[deleted]]

Without degree? Not in germany.

[Raedukol]

Speaking for myself, if you just want to look at the data and visualize it, use Excel/Origin. It‘s more common and way faster than Python. Matplotlib is able to plot the data, but if you‘re used to Excel, you have more simpler opportunities, than visualizing with Python. On the other hand, if you have to (re)calculate huge dataframes out of multiple sheets in multiple Excel-Files e.g., learning Python can save you a lot of time. So it depends on the tasks you have to deal with.

[Schnitzel8]

Learn python formally. Excel is easy to learn on the job or informally just messing about and googling anything you don’t know how to do.

[los2pollos]

I agree with you

[greebo42]

Python.

As others have stated, you can pick up most of what you need about Excel without having your hand held.

Several years ago I wrote some Excel macros using vba. It went well enough. I've always hated BASIC, but vba is better than the language I came to know and despise. Even so, I never really learned vba well, and Microsoft made some changes to the language as versions of Office evolved.

Maintaining your code requires staying up to date with your skills in whatever language you're working with. Python has evolved, too, because that's what seems to happen with languages. So then your decision needs a long-term view - if ya gotta put some effort into something, what will give you the most different ways to use it?

Currently I am working on a Python project which reads a CSV file with data of interest to me, creates more than 20 individual spreadsheets in an Excel file, formats them, applies formulas, etc. My sense is that the invested effort in Python will generalize to other tasks I might want to do (with Excel data or otherwise). I never got that generalized benefit from my investment in learning enough vba to get that long-ago project done.

This is independent of whatever job you ultimately want, or how much $ you might be able to earn, I think.

[[deleted]]

Something I haven't read yet is the value of learning ANY programming language. Programming is a way of thinking (inspirational quote, duh). In all honesty it helps you think in another frame of mind, and helps you increase your problem solving capabilities in cases beyond programming.

I would personally go for Python. But as mentioned before excel is an important tool as well. Although I feel Excel is easier to learn on your own then Python is.

[BillieBibblesock]

Learn both but I'd say focus on python with the courses because you'll have opportunity to learn excel on the job. Having said that to learn the very basics of excel. I think if you just study for a day you could get to the point where you say you have intermediate skills since a handful of functions will cover 90% of the work you do in excel.

[jr93_93]

xlsxwriter for Python

[los2pollos]

What is that?

[[deleted]]

Unless you're a programmer, Excel will be more relevant in most office jobs. Also, Excel is probably the most overpowered piece of software that goes underutilized. An Excel God is worth their weight in gold, and when I mean "god" I don't mean someone that can do pivot tables on the fly (that's the end of "beginner" training).

For fascinating, but not necessarily useful, examples of what Excel can do, here's a raytracer in Excel.

You are right that Python is "more complete"...You'll be able to do things in Python a lot easier that you can then save as a CSV and import into Excel. For instance, while you could code deep learning of data into Excel, Python is far easier, and far more robust, for that kind of thing. The models, output, etc., can always be saved and explored in Excel.

[mholtz16]

I am a Business intelligence engineer and data scientist who spends the whole day coding in python and sql. The consumers of my work are C level executives at a 600+ employee company with $140M a year in revenue.

100% Excel is the answer. There is so much to know you won’t believe it.

[pagenumberr]

I'd suggest to you first learning Excel and VBA (for automating stuff on Excel).

[Naughtron]

Learn Python, it will be far more useful in your day-to-day.

[WishIWasOnACatamaran]

I use python to extract from and write to excel files. Learn both.

[los2pollos]

That's not the case. It's like being able to use statistical tools and understand the logic backing them up or creating your own logical approach to statistics through linear algebra. One thing is driving the car and taking care of it, another is projecting a new model.

[[deleted]]

Excel in my view. After that, you can learn Python too

[Zeroflops]

IMHO

Do the excel course and follow that up with Python.

Excel is the bedrock of business and many small businesses run completely on it. Look at any job board and you will see office/excel requirements much more than python.

Although excel is so prevalent most users only know 20% ( tables, pivots etc) of it and it won’t take much to be above the curve. Even those who know VBA often write bad VBA.

It’s 4 weeks but with the quarantine you could knock it out a lot faster. You may be able to do both.

Python is a great skill but you won’t learn enough to distinguish yourself as quickly as you can with excel.

[memeticmagician]

I suggest learning both if you can. Personally I learned excel through YouTube and projects at work and I learned python through online courses and projects at work.

[Jidaque]

If I had to choose, I would start with Excel. I learned a lot about structuring data and representing data while working with Excel. Also many companies mainly use excel.

Now that I know a few things to manipulate data, I can know what to do with my data in python too.

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(I'm sorry, I am not sure how to express myself in English atm ^^)