New to the world of Alteryx

[ChanceCascalla0]

Hello! I am brand new to Alteryx and currently learning it at Cal State Fullerton. While I have taken a few coding classes in the past like Python and C++, I have noticed that Alteryx is much more powerful than most coding languages out there. The ability to operate multiple databases, manage excel files, use spatial functions, and many more from a visual workflow tool is amazing. I was wondering if anyone can recommend some basic projects to start off with as I learn Alteryx this semester and in the future. Also, any tips or shortcuts using the application would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[cmcclellan]

"Alteryx is much more powerful than most coding languages out there" ..... I don't agree with that, but it is much easier & faster to use most of the time.

Python can do an amazing amount of things that Alteryx may never be able to do, but your mileage may vary - it just depends on what you want to do.

My best advice is the online training and the Weekly Challenges.  Complete both of those and you will certainly know a lot about how to use Alteryx.

[TheOC]

hey @ChanceCascalla0 , power being speed to get something up and running, 100%. You also have the option of integrated python, if you feel like going back to your coding roots! 

Be sure to have a look around the community - its really a fantastic place for learning. A couple of resources I would especially recommend knowing about are:

• Alteryx Designer Discussions - A place where users can ask questions about specific Designer workflows they are working on, and receive help from members on the community. Typical response time (from what I've seen) is under 10 minutes for someone to reply with a potential solution, so its a very quick resource for bespoke information. Additionally, you can search using the search function at the top right for specific issues if you happen to run into any that may have been faced by other users before.
• Alteryx User Groups - When I first got into Alteryx, I didn't join User Groups as I thought they would be very technical and that I would need plenty of experience before diving in. However, they really aren't. User groups are an incredibly friendly environment to discuss workflows, what's going on in the Alteryx World, and a great place to network with people in the community. Even better, with the world still being very much virtual at the moment, most of the User Groups (including the North East UK User Group, which I am currently a leader of) are hosting virtual events so they are easy to join.
• The Alteryx Academy - Easily the best place to learn about Alteryx and how to use it. I would especially recommend the learning paths which include short snippets of learning specific topics, including Alteryx for Excel users, which helped me translate a lot of my Excel knowledge over to Alteryx. There are also the weekly challenges, which are challenges delivered by Alteryx on a weekly basis, based around real-life situations and community submitted problems. They are a fantastic way to learn practical uses of Designer, and also its really interesting to see the many different approaches to answering the same problem. Once you have progressed with learning Alteryx, I would definitely recommend the Alteryx Certifications. They are free to do (Core and Advanced), and provide a useful benchmark for your knowledge. You can also just take them again in 7 days, in the case that you don't pass, so don't feel any pressure to know everything before you give them a go!

I hope you find Alteryx to be easy to learn, and intuitive to use. Do remember that almost every tool has an example workflow and help documentation if you right click the tool in the tool palette:

("Help" for the tool documentation, "Open Example" for the example workflow). 

And be sure to search for/ask for help on the community if you get stuck. Alternatively, feel free to drop me a message here on the community!

Cheers,
TheOC