Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I mostly agree, but I think there's a reason behind the madness. Back in the early 00s to early 10s they really were more productive, "secret alien technology"-type tools.

But these days obviously ten lines of python (or whatever else) calling the database do exactly the same thing, except you actually have git, debuggers, ides, etc.

Many BI departments still cling to them because they're comparing 2020s no-code tools to early 2000s programming languages.



Tableau is way faster to demonstrate your work on.

These professions need to get shit done fast. The workplaces that need them are extremely reactive to the market, etc.

So having debuggers isn’t necessarily a thing they’re interested in.

Now if you’re in a slower paced BI environment that’s where you generally see more traditional programming tooling be used.


It surely is fast enough, I'm not blaming people who use Tableau.

But "faster" compared to what? It's not faster than pandas/seaborn, not faster than d3... even just for super simple stuff where GUI tools shine.

If the final solution needs to be somewhat self-service, then sure, you can't expect the end user to write python or javascript, and Tableau is fine. If the end result is just a report that some technician has to prepare, then I sincerely doubt it's the fastest way to get there, even ignoring maintainability, source control, etc, where it's just a no contest.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: