Yes. And there are several options for doing this. As you know, Access can hold 6 object types: tables, queries, forms, reports, macros and modules in either a .MDB (older) file or an .ACCDB (newer). You can choose to put all objects into a single database. An alternative method is to put the queries, forms, reports, macros and modules into one "frontend" database, then put the tables into another "backend" database, then link the tables in the backend database to the frontend database. This allows the Access developer to work on improvements to a new frontend database while a different person continues to add/edit data in the backend database. If you consider it, the frontend is where the "smarts" reside and the backend is just the "dumb" data. In corporate environments, sometimes Access is used as a frontend database and Microsoft SQL Server is the backend database.
Does Excel have a place in such a set-up? Or is everything (spreadsheet analysis/sorting of data) done in Access?
Awesome. Are completely self-taught in Python or do you have professional programming experience? Approximately - how long did it take you to become proficient enough to actually write/code something useful that were applicable in trading? I've always had the idea that my own time are better spent focusing on learning the actual trading stuff and then rather pay for programming services as needed. Simply because I imagine it would take me quite a long while to learn what I need in order to do what I want with coding.
GF had to get a "nano-degree" in Python from Udacity, for work. Prior, she had only slight exposure to Python. No real programming other than a little VBA. Took ten weeks to finish the Python nano degree, an hour or so every evening. She now does company wide apps and reports for Shell and has had VPs remark favorably on her work with Python, SQL, and PowerBI. And she can't even solve a Rubik's cube. So it is a skill very much in reach of ordinary folks. If we weren't both so desperately busy on a dozen projects, I am sure we would already have some sort of personal trading app working. It is on the slate and appears very doable.
I'm self-taught, there's really no need to go to school for this (level). It's a continuous learning process, proficiency came maybe in the last few years - by proficiency I mean knowing multiple ways of ways of doing something, writing resource efficient code that has a low failure rate. Within a few years you should be able to write decent code. A major time thief is learning 3rd party tools, APIs and such. Dealing with basic Python data types isn't that difficult. I would never outsource programming for many many reasons - stealing of strategies, expensive professionals, more time required (it's not like you'd always have someone on call). I do understand who you would do it though, coding can be a major time waster if you're even slightly on the perfectionist side. You have to enjoy it but that's true for anything.
For me, it's done in Access. The query SQL language has powerful verbs (like ORDER BY for sorting and GROUP BY to summarize). I do simple things in Excel and more complex things in Access.
I listen to a podcast on my smartphone called 'Talk Python to Me' that gives a good idea of what Python is all about. They've done 230 one hour sessions and the most recent 26 show up as available for listening on my phone.
Sounds good. A few years is pretty much what I'm expecting. I hear you there. I have a custom application which was coded to me by a professional firm. Initially, it was a fairly simple module, but it grew more complex throughout the years until I got to a satisfactory end result. However, it's been extremely time consuming and also dollar consuming with multiple upgrades/modifications. Also, usually a ton of time spent communicating what I want and re-communicating when I didn't get what was specified and debugging. If I were to do it again from scratch and knowing what I know now, it might very well have been faster for me to actually learn programming and program it myself - even if that meant accomplishing 'nothing' for the first initial years of learning. The problem I have now with this application is that it's a bit inefficient and is a bit on the slow side, although it's within what's acceptable for the time being. Also, of course, I can't make modifications myself. If I am to start coding (which I actually think I'll enjoy quite a bit), it means less time spent doing other things - like learning a new market. But in the end, I think it can be extremely valuable. So probably best to just get started and see how I feel about it.