When spreadsheets outgrow Excel, teams move to Python (pandas, openpyxl) for automation—Excel remains the review UI for many stakeholders.
pandas read
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_excel("report.xlsx", sheet_name="Data")
print(df.head())openpyxl
Read/write .xlsx with formatting control for generated reports.
When to leave Excel
Files >100MB, need git versioning, scheduled pipelines, complex stats → Python + SQL.
Important interview questions and answers
- Q: read_excel?
A: Loads sheet into DataFrame for transforms. - Q: openpyxl?
A: Creates styled workbooks programmatically.
Self-check
- What does pandas read_excel do?
- When move from Excel to Python?
Tip: Rebuild one pivot in pandas groupby to cement the parallel.
Interview prep
- pandas read_excel?
Loads sheet into DataFrame for scalable transforms.