[ddj] SQL Vs Excel Vs Refine

Tue Apr 30 14:44:28 UTC 2013

PgAdmin3 and phpPgAdmin are the most often used PostgreSQL UIs. On the
EnterpriseDB Windows installer for PostgreSQL, you get PgAdmin3 by
default, IIRC, and PostGIS is available as an option. I think the
PostgreSQL ODBC drivers are there too.

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 12:57 AM, Friedrich Lindenberg
<friedrich.lindenberg at okfn.org> wrote:
> Hey,
>
> I think sqlite is great, but it really doesn't do joins all that well. So I
> think its important that when your data grows beyond a gig and you still
> need to do joins, you leave ship and use a proper DB server.
>
> As for UIs: http://www.sequelpro.com/ is for MySQL on Mac, it's incredible.
> phpMyAdmin against a remote server can also be good. I use Navicat for
> Postgres at the moment, but its a usability nightmare.
>
> - Friedrich
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 9:21 AM, Michael Bauer <michael.bauer at okfn.org>
> wrote:
>>
>> SiFu,
>>
>> Exactly what I thought. Don't forget sqlite! However it's still a command
>> line thing but it uses a simple file as a backend. Mac OS X comes with
>> sqlite pre-installed - so there is little barrier of using it there.
>>
>> Just use sqlite3 <file> and the file will be used as a database - you can
>> then handle it like any other file (and even send your database to
>> friends,
>> plug it into an application etc.)
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 07:41:37AM +0200, Siegmund Führinger wrote:
>> > hi joe!
>> >
>> > don't forget about http://www.sqlite.org/. no server you have to take
>> > care
>> > of. it's just a simple command.
>> > i use it quite a bit even though i have several postgres and couchdb
>> > servers.
>> >
>> > SiFu
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 5:21 PM, Joe Germuska <joe at germuska.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > > I like all of Sharon's answers quite a bit. Especially "it was
>> > > designed
>> > > for subsetting, slicing and dicing" and "easier to go back and check
>> > > my
>> > > work"
>> > >
>> > > But I sometimes wonder: when people ask "should I learn SQL?" aren't
>> > > they
>> > > usually asking "is SQL really worth all the arcana of installing MySQL
>> > > or
>> > > Postgres?" Unfortunately, it is pretty arcane, although the MAMP/WAMP
>> > > package seems to be a pretty good way to get going.
>> > >
>> > > I'm sure people will chime in with other favorite installers,
>> > > packages,
>> > > GUI admin tools and the like, but I'm afraid that the plethora of
>> > > responses
>> > > is just going to reinforce for many journalists the basic problem—it
>> > > can
>> > > quickly become its own adventure. A great adventure, like learning to
>> > > cook
>> > > food from scratch instead of from kits and convenience packages, but
>> > > an
>> > > adventure nevertheless…
>> > >
>> > > Joe
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > On Apr 29, 2013, at 7:46 AM, SMachlis at computerworld.com wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > What I like about SQL:
>> > > >
>> > > > = It was *designed* for subsetting, slicing and dicing data. Yes, I
>> > > > can
>> > > do this to a large degree with Excel and Google Refine; but with a
>> > > more
>> > > complex project -- especially as others have pointed out, with data
>> > > having
>> > > one or more relationships between multiple tables -- there are times
>> > > that I
>> > > find that using a tool designed for the job to be less frustrating and
>> > > considerably more robust.
>> > > >
>> > > > = If I am dealing with a large data set that is already in multiple
>> > > tables, SQL makes more sense to be than trying to shoehorn that data
>> > > into
>> > > an Excel-friendly format.
>> > > >
>> > > > = It helps me think about data in a more structured way, which is
>> > > > very
>> > > useful when I've got projects where I'm collecting and storing my own
>> > > data.
>> > > >
>> > > > = It helps me understand what sorts of data I can and can't
>> > > > reasonably
>> > > request from government agencies that store their data in structured
>> > > databases.
>> > > >
>> > > > = If I am sharing data with colleagues, sometimes it's useful to be
>> > > > able
>> > > to put up a simple PHP/MySQL app on our intranet (Rails or Jango might
>> > > be a
>> > > better choice for this, but the shared internal server I have access
>> > > to
>> > > does not include those platforms). Even if I'm creating a Web
>> > > application
>> > > with a third-party service such as Caspio, I find it helpful to be
>> > > able to
>> > > think about data in relational terms.
>> > > >
>> > > > = Having a series of SQL commands I can store in a file makes it
>> > > > easier
>> > > for me or others to go back and check my work, versus a series of
>> > > Excel
>> > > point-and-click operations (or even multiple macros buried in Excel).
>> > > >
>> > > > Sharon Machlis
>> > > >
>> > > > ________________________________________
>> > > > From: data-driven-journalism-bounces at lists.okfn.org [
>> > > data-driven-journalism-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Andrew
>> > > Duffy [
>> > > andrewjamesduffy at gmail.com]
>> > > > Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 12:37 AM
>> > > > To: data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>> > > > Subject: [ddj] SQL Vs Excel Vs Refine
>> > > >
>> > > > Question:
>> > > >
>> > > > Are there any data journalists/devs out there that can advise as to
>> > > whether it's worth learning SQL? So far a combination of Excel/Google
>> > > Refine has been more than enough for dumping, organising, and cleaning
>> > > my
>> > > data projects, but I have only worked with spreadsheets up to ~500
>> > > rows.
>> > > >
>> > > > What can SQL do that refine/excel can't?
>> > > >
>> > > > --
>> > > >
>> > > > Andrew Duffy - Journalist
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > _______________________________________________
>> > > > data-driven-journalism mailing list
>> > > > data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>> > > > http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>> > > > Unsubscribe:
>> > > http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/data-driven-journalism
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Joe Germuska
>> > > Joe at Germuska.com * http://blog.germuska.com *
>> > > http://twitter.com/JoeGermuska
>> > >
>> > > "Science's job is to map our ignorance." --David Byrne
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
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>>
>> --
>> Data Wrangler with the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN.org)
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>> Twitter: @mihi_tr Skype: mihi_tr
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