4 ms·

The new dynamic arrays in Excel with Python and xlwings

65 points by fzumstein 7y ago

b_tterc_p 7y ago
That’s fun. CSE formulas have always felt like forbidden magic due to the unintuitive implementation and ease with which an unfamiliarity user can break them. These look like a way more intuitive way to interact with arrays in excel. Took me a while to realize xlwings was a separate thing which was disappointing
- fzumstein 7y ago
  Microsoft has been looking into adding Python natively, see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927132 but we're still waiting for an official decision...
  - b_tterc_p 7y ago
    Exciting, but that was over a year ago with no news on it since :(
    - lucideer 7y ago
      The choice quote from them at that time was: > Given the passion, I want to be clear this remains an area of exploration for us, without any specific timeline. "without any specific timeline" sounds very much like the distant future (if at all).
  - tvanantwerp 7y ago
    At my work, we've recently finished rewriting a macroeconomic model from Excel/VBA into Python. Would've been nice--and easier for the economists--if Python had simply been available in Excel. But I think the long-term advantages of teaching the econ modeling team Python plus gitand an agile-ish workflow (versus no defined structure that led to a tangled mess of VBA in the first place) will be worth it.
    - wrong_variable 7y ago
      Why cant everybody just learn Linux ? Why cant microsoft just invest the same amount of money it does for Excel for Linux ?
  - sametmax 7y ago
    MS seems to push Python these days, but I doubt it will happen for Excel: they rewrote a lot of it in JS, so it makes more sense for them to provide a JS binding. Besides, making Python decently works on the Web version of Office would be a huge challenge.
    - jdsully 7y ago
      I’ve been gone 2 years but last I was there it was a few million LOC of C++ and maybe a tiny bit of js in non core ares. I can’t imagine it was rewritten in JS since I left.
keithalewis 7y ago
The new Excel dynamic arrays work with the good old C SDK too. Just return an array and the entire range is displayed.

65 points by fzumstein 7y ago

That’s fun. CSE formulas have always felt like forbidden magic due to the unintuitive implementation and ease with which an unfamiliarity user can break them. These look like a way more intuitive way to interact with arrays in excel. Took me a while to realize xlwings was a separate thing which was disappointing

fzumstein 7y ago
Microsoft has been looking into adding Python natively, see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927132 but we're still waiting for an official decision...
- b_tterc_p 7y ago
  Exciting, but that was over a year ago with no news on it since :(
  - lucideer 7y ago
    The choice quote from them at that time was: > Given the passion, I want to be clear this remains an area of exploration for us, without any specific timeline. "without any specific timeline" sounds very much like the distant future (if at all).
- tvanantwerp 7y ago
  At my work, we've recently finished rewriting a macroeconomic model from Excel/VBA into Python. Would've been nice--and easier for the economists--if Python had simply been available in Excel. But I think the long-term advantages of teaching the econ modeling team Python plus gitand an agile-ish workflow (versus no defined structure that led to a tangled mess of VBA in the first place) will be worth it.
  - wrong_variable 7y ago
    Why cant everybody just learn Linux ? Why cant microsoft just invest the same amount of money it does for Excel for Linux ?
- sametmax 7y ago
  MS seems to push Python these days, but I doubt it will happen for Excel: they rewrote a lot of it in JS, so it makes more sense for them to provide a JS binding. Besides, making Python decently works on the Web version of Office would be a huge challenge.
  - jdsully 7y ago
    I’ve been gone 2 years but last I was there it was a few million LOC of C++ and maybe a tiny bit of js in non core ares. I can’t imagine it was rewritten in JS since I left.

keithalewis 7y ago

The new Excel dynamic arrays work with the good old C SDK too. Just return an array and the entire range is displayed.