Chapter 2. Data Extracting, Transforming, and Loading
This chapter covers the following topics:
- Downloading open data
- Reading and writing CSV files
- Scanning text files
- Working with Excel files
- Reading data from databases
- Scraping web data
- Accessing Facebook data
- Working with twitteR
Introduction
Before using data to answer critical business questions, the most important thing is to prepare it. Data is normally archived in files, and using Excel or text editors allows it to be easily obtained. However, data can be located in a range of different sources, such as databases, websites, and various file formats. Being able to import data from these sources is crucial.
There are four main types of data. Data recorded in text format is the simplest. As some users ...
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