Lately, `pip install pandas` is my first step after making a new virtual environment. Its read_sql and read_csv methods are magic. The resulting DataFrames are just like DataTables in C#. And for complex joins and aggregations, I can DataFrame.to_sql into an in-memory SQLite database.

Pandas feels like the wrong tool for this job. I don't use multi-indexes or any statistical methods. I don't chart anything.

But it's so darn convenient. If the time comes to optimize I can `import csv` directly and improve performance. But nothing beats it for prototyping.

Are there better options in this space?