A few things about using Python in the workplace that are worth remembering:
- Anaconda does not need Admin rights to install. This means that if you’re locked down on your computer, you can still use Python for basic data manipulation.
- All good scripts require getting the data, doing the things, and then outputting it in a useable way. If you’re not hooked into any data sources, the “getting data” can be importing it via a manual download that you received from a front end export somewhere. One of my favorite scripts uses this exact technique.
- Similarly, exporting can be as simple as another excel sheet. There’s a report I do that involves a bunch of crazy calculations, and then a pretty export table. For me, it’s worth automating the crazy calculations so that I can spend my time in better ways.
- Be sure to spread the love - I don’t do a ton of reporting (thankfully), but others do and it’s worth remembering that this knowledge can be black magic to those less advanced. It’s worth spreading the good programming word to free the workers from their chains.
- Be sure to take breaks. The goal here is for this to reduce stress, and Rome wasn’t built in a day. Plus, we’re ideally playing the long game here, so it’s worth doing and developing these skills.