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Considering Microsoft recent involvment with R I have the crazy hope that future versions of Excel will be shipped with R as a scripting language.

by tangue 10y ago

KhalilK 10y ago
There is an Excel addin (RExcel) that allows the use of R from within Excel. But it's proprietary.
- blahi 10y ago
  RExcel blows. https://bert-toolkit.com/ https://bert-toolkit.com/
Mikeb85 10y ago
IMO adding scripting to a spreadsheet is a waste of time when R can simply import a spreadsheet, perform whatever operations needed, then spit out another spreadsheet/database/whatever format you want.
- actuallyalys 10y ago
  Plus, if you use a tool like RStudio or Jupyter, it's pretty easy to see the data as you manipulate it, which is a commonly cited advantage of Excel, with none of the awkwardness of trying to look at cell formulas.
- blahi 10y ago
  That would depend on what you want to do. If by statistical analysis you mean regression or similar tasks, then sure R is the way to go. However there are other family of analytics tasks which can be summed up as "decision analysis". Taking regression models (for example, maybe even built in R) and simulating them under different inputs, getting quantiles, sensitivity, etc. This goes much further with multiple sets, multiple outcomes with decision trees (NOT regression trees/CART) and even further with solvers. Excel is the best option in those tasks most of the time because of quick data entry and already built output reports and interfaces.
- tangue 10y ago
  For people used to code, yes. But many excel user won't leave the ui they're familiar with. Including R will build a bridge between Excel user and modern development features (testing, vc ...)
dandermotj 10y ago
So is Hadley Wickham... https://twitter.com/hadleywickham/status/748392441154248704 https://twitter.com/hadleywickham/status/748392441154248704
- peatmoss 10y ago
  Well, later in that thread he did write: "I am worried by the number of people that couldn’t tell that this was sarcasm"
  - dandermotj 10y ago
    That was the joke I was making...
    - peatmoss 10y ago
      Ah dang, I got whooshed.

Considering Microsoft recent involvment with R I have the crazy hope that future versions of Excel will be shipped with R as a scripting language.

by tangue 10y ago

Considering Microsoft recent involvment with R I have the crazy hope that future versions of Excel will be shipped with R as a scripting language.

KhalilK 10y ago

There is an Excel addin (RExcel) that allows the use of R from within Excel. But it's proprietary.

blahi 10y ago
RExcel blows. https://bert-toolkit.com/ https://bert-toolkit.com/

Mikeb85 10y ago

IMO adding scripting to a spreadsheet is a waste of time when R can simply import a spreadsheet, perform whatever operations needed, then spit out another spreadsheet/database/whatever format you want.

actuallyalys 10y ago
Plus, if you use a tool like RStudio or Jupyter, it's pretty easy to see the data as you manipulate it, which is a commonly cited advantage of Excel, with none of the awkwardness of trying to look at cell formulas.
blahi 10y ago
That would depend on what you want to do. If by statistical analysis you mean regression or similar tasks, then sure R is the way to go. However there are other family of analytics tasks which can be summed up as "decision analysis". Taking regression models (for example, maybe even built in R) and simulating them under different inputs, getting quantiles, sensitivity, etc. This goes much further with multiple sets, multiple outcomes with decision trees (NOT regression trees/CART) and even further with solvers. Excel is the best option in those tasks most of the time because of quick data entry and already built output reports and interfaces.
tangue 10y ago
For people used to code, yes. But many excel user won't leave the ui they're familiar with. Including R will build a bridge between Excel user and modern development features (testing, vc ...)

dandermotj 10y ago

So is Hadley Wickham... https://twitter.com/hadleywickham/status/748392441154248704 https://twitter.com/hadleywickham/status/748392441154248704

peatmoss 10y ago
Well, later in that thread he did write: "I am worried by the number of people that couldn’t tell that this was sarcasm"
- dandermotj 10y ago
  That was the joke I was making...
  - peatmoss 10y ago
    Ah dang, I got whooshed.