ThinkTWENTY20

RPA – But Eric, What About Python?

: on 03 October 2020

Back in May, I had a Blog entry on Python, and whether financial professionals should know how to code in Python. See https://thinktwenty20.com/index.php/blog/478-should-financial-professionals-know-how-to-program-or-data-analytics-accountants-should-understand-them-and-have-toolsets-to-perform-them for a refresher. I mentioned the use of Jupyter Notebook as a means of storing and conveying the code and documentation and facilitating writing, testing and executing the code.

So what does Python have to do with RPA?

With RPA, I have tools to automate tasks. Python, too.

With RPA, I have the means to get information from Excel, PDFs and other external sources and work with the data automatically. Python, too.

The use of UiPath Studio for “smaller” purposes is free. The use of Python is essentially free.

Python has tons of “libraries” that add additional functionality to work with just about anything. RPA tools are gaining more and more libraries, and often permit the invoking of code just-in-case.

So, what can RPA solutions do that Python can’t?

Provide a limited/no-code environment in which to operate, particularly focused on screen scraping.
Integrate with larger suites for collecting business requirements, moving to the field and managing
Minimize programming errors with components tuned for purpose

What can Python do that RPA can’t?

There are few limitations to Python; there’s even an RPA library for Python (imaginatively named RPA for Python or RPA-Python) which simplifies website automation, OCR, and interaction with people on the keyboard and mouse. But,
Python is a general purpose tool, so you aren’t starting off with a user-friendly user interface to get the work done.

With UiPath being available for free for smaller uses, it is up to you whether to begin implementing automation within your organization with Python or with UiPath.

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