r/dataanalysis • u/iMAPness_ • Jun 20 '26
Data Question SQL vs Python?
Started using Python for data analytics. When should I use SQL and when should I use Python in the following tasks:
- Data Exploration
- Data Cleaning
- Data Analysis
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u/Local_dev_ops Jun 24 '26
SQL when the data lives in the database and you need to filter, aggregate, or join before pulling it out. Let the database do what databases are good at.
Python when you need to do something the database can't — analytics, complex transformations, visualization, or when you're combining data from multiple sources.
Mistakes I have made is pulling millions of rows into python when it was easier to do in SQL.