I have been very busy with VBA Classes background work. Today, I want to quickly share a few things about the upcoming VBA Classes.
I have been running online training programs since Jan, 2010. I have trained more than 900 students till date. Still, whenever I am launching a new program, I could feel that familiar sense of eagerness, tension and tremendous enthusiasm building up. I feel eager because I want to meet you, teach you and learn from you. I feel tensed because I want to do it right. I feel enthusiastic because these training programs give me a lot of new ideas and open-up new possibilities.
1. Can we learn about Excel Dashboards too?
Of course yes. After receiving at least a dozen emails, I am now adding a 4th option to VBA Classes. You can get everything in Excel School + Dashboard Lessons apart from VBA Classes – all in one place. I think this is a great value for money as you will get 50 hours of lessons + at least 75 workbooks with lots of examples, tips & ideas.
Please look at the below table to understand various VBA School options: 
2. How much Excel (and VBA) should I know to join this course?
This program is not aimed at Excel Newbies. But if you know what a spreadsheet is, can create a simple formula and chart without choking yourself, then you are a good candidate for this course.
If you do not know much about Excel (ie not familiar with concepts like conditional formatting, pivot tables, charts, formulas beyond SUM & AVERAGE…) then you should consider joining VBA Classes along with Excel School. This way, you can learn various Excel Topics before plunging in to VBA.
3. What if I get busy after joining and could not attend a week or two?
No problemo!
Every week, we will be posting new lessons to the classroom area. You can visit the online classroom once a week (or two) and finish the lessons. If you are away for a few weeks, you can always catch-up. Moreover, you can also download the lesson videos and watch them at leisure.
4. Any Discounts for my team?
Yes, you can get 25% discount if you enroll 3 or more people in to the program. During checkout, enter the quantity to get the discount applied automatically.
5. Can I pay by Bank transfer or in Indian Rupee?
Yes. Send me an email at chandoo.d @ gmail.com and I will give you my bank account details.
Also, We have special pricing for you if you chose to pay in Indian Rupee (this is because, I get to save on Credit Card processing charges & other commissions). Refer to the table in (1) to know how much to pay.
Just visit http://chandoo.org/wp/vba-classes/inr-pricing/ (after 8th May) or drop me an email for details about my bank account details.
A Demo Lesson:
Well, this not entirely a demo lesson, more like a VBA Example that I created to answer a question one of the blog reader’s asked. In this 4 minute video, you can learn how to write a simple 1 line macro to change date format of selecte cell(s).
See it below (or here)
Doubts or Questions about VBA Classes?
Please send me an email at chandoo.d@gmail.com or call me at +1 206 792 9480 +91 814 262 1090. I will be glad to help you out.
Remember: Our VBA Class‘ first batch registrations open on Monday – 9th of May.
One Response to “SQL vs. Power Query – The Ultimate Comparison”
Enjoyed your SQL / Power Query podcast (A LOT). I've used SQL a little longer than Chandoo. Power Query not so much.
Today I still use SQL & VBA for my "go to" applications. While I don't pull billions of rows, I do pull millions. I agree with Chandoo about Power Query (PQ) lack of performance. I've tried to benchmark PQ to SQL and I find that a well written SQL will work much faster. Like mentioned in the podcast, my similar conclusion is that SQL is doing the filtering on the server while PQ is pulling data into the local computer and then filtering the data. I've heard about PQ query folding but I still prefer SQL.
My typical excel application will use SQL to pull data from an Enterprise DB. I load data into Structured Tables and/or Excel Power Pivot (especially if there's lot of data).
I like to have a Control Worksheet to enter parameters, display error messages and have user buttons to execute VBA. I use VBA to build/edit parameters used in the SQL. Sometimes I use parameter-based SQL. Sometimes I create a custom SQL String in a hidden worksheet that I then pull into VBA code (these may build a string of comma separated values that's used with a SQL include). Another SQL trick I like to do is tag my data with a YY-MM, YY-QTR, or YY-Week field constructed form a Transaction Date.
In an application, I like to create a dashboard(s) that may contain hyperlinks that allow the end-user to drill into data. Sometimes the hyperlink will point to worksheet and sometimes to a supporting workbook. In some cases, I use a double click VBA Macro that will pull additional data and direct the user to a supplemental worksheet or pivot table.
In recent years I like Dynamic Formulas & Lambda Functions. I find this preferable to pivot tales and slicers. I like to use a Lambda in conjunction with a cube formula to pull data from a power pivot data model. I.E. a Lambda using a cube formula to aggregate Accounting Data by a general ledger account and financial period. Rather than present info in a power pivot table, you can use this combination to easily build financial reports in a format that's familiar to Accounting Professionals.
One thing that PQ does very well is consolidating data from separate files. In the old days this was always a pain.
I've found that using SQL can be very trying (even for someone with experience). It's largely an iterative process. Start simple then use Xlookup (old days Match/Index). Once you get the relationships correct you can then use SQL joins to construct a well behaved SQL statement.
Most professional enterprise systems offer a schema that's very valuable for constructing SQL statements. For any given enterprise system there's often a community of users that will share SQL. I.E. MS Great Plains was a great source (but I haven't used them in years).
Hope this long reply has value - keep up the good work.