Earlier this year Tableau Zen Master and Head Coach at The Data School Carl Allchin wrote Tableau Prep Up & Running Self Service Data Preparation for Better Analysis. The book is a fabulous resource for a wide range of people in data roles (or those who want to get into a data role). While it is focused on Tableau’s Prep Builder tool, the data concepts are transferable to other data prep solutions. The book is a perfect mix of theory and “how tos”.
The book covers the data prep concepts with detailed examples and theories. These concepts include
- understanding your data – I’m stealing KYD (know your data)
- planning your preparation – a must read section
- data types and how to work with them
- profiling data
- shaping data
- cleaning
- joining (Carl does an amazing job covering the different join types in an easy to follow manner)
- aggregating
- scaffolding
Chapter 35, Breaking Down Complex Data Preparation Challenges is probably my favorite section. You are going to encounter a lot of complex situations in the data prep world, knowing how to deal with this is a big key to success. Carl walks through the most complex #PreppinData challenge and his explanations of how to break down this challenge and you’ll gain insights into how to logically break down a problem into smaller portions.
I highly recommend purchasing this book and be sure to check out #PreppinData.
