this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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My wife didn't understand why I got so excited reading this article.

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[–] IHeartBadCode@kbin.social 29 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Correction. Excel DOES NOT HAVE PYTHON. Your python is sent to Microsoft's cloud instance of Python and the result there is sent back to your Excel sheet. No actual python is being executed on your machine.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago

So it's sending it up to the big snake in the sky?

[–] AnomalousBit@programming.dev 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Or you know, use a non-proprietary format like CSV and analyze your data in any language you damn well please.

[–] abhibeckert@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

Excel can't import a CSV file reliably though - and neither can any other spreadsheet software I've ever tested. They have problems with dates, numeric values, etc.

The only reliable way to work with CSV is in a programming language of your choice or a plain text editor.

[–] throws_lemy@lemmy.nz 16 points 2 years ago

Yeah, on their cloud. LoL

[–] Kekzkrieger@feddit.de 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

An important detail is that Microsoft executes your code in their cloud, which for privacy reasons alone is extremely questionable.

So it wont work if you are ever offline or have internet problems etc.

Terrible Design

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 2 points 2 years ago

There’s no way I’ll ever use this, mostly because good luck trying to open that spreadsheet later.

[–] TheHobbyist@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I read somewhere that this required connecting to Microsoft's cloud? Is that true?

[–] OmnipotentEntity@beehaw.org 8 points 2 years ago

It is. So not really that great, imo. Just another rent seeking behavior to force a current subscription.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certain it scratches an itch many people have, just the fact they put it in the cloud is a hell of a lot of needless complexity and antiuser.

[–] KickMeElmo@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 years ago

Didn't LibreOffice Calc have this like... a decade ago?

[–] DavyJones@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

LibreOffice already had JS

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] irasponsible@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that something entirely different? This is python in a cell of a spreadsheet, which could be really good, but what you linked seems to be for macros, same as excel's VBA

[–] Hirom@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Good point, that's another difference between the two. Although you can probably achieve the same result with both.

Not depending on the cloud processing your data is more important in my opinion.

[–] irasponsible@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

Python in a spreadsheet would be so helpful, abstracting it out to macros less so. Better than making them in VBA I'm sure, but still not the same thing.

I'm very basic, more thinking about stuff like using Python f-strings and string formatting vs excels formatting.

[–] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

goddamn now i gotta learn python to stay ahead in my office job? shit...

[–] TehPers@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Do you need to? I feel like learning Python wouldn't give much benefit here, unless you're already using Excel to create applications. In that case, learning Python might let you start making applications that better suit your needs.

[–] theangriestbird@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Nah I was kind of joking. I do feel like understanding Excel really well has helped me stay ahead of my coworkers, but obviously people who can't figure out Excel won't be figuring out python anytime soon.

[–] MooMix@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Learning python could be handy if you ever wanted a career change into a software developer :)

[–] thingsiplay@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

@MariaRomanov Finally Excel becomes useful.

[–] Lysergid@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago

Good I’m staying away from both