I’m a data scientist who has primarily worked with CSV files for data analysis, but I’m now exploring the use of relational databases for my projects. I would like to understand the best practices for integrating a relational database into my workflow.

How should I import data from a relational database (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) into my data science environment (e.g., Python, R)? Should I perform joins and exploratory data analysis directly within the database, or should I export data to CSV files and then proceed with analysis?

I’ve primarily worked with CSV files in the past, but I’m now embarking on a real-world data science project where I need to utilize a relational database. However, I’m relatively new to this and looking for guidance on how to effectively integrate a database into my workflow.