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This is an amazing idea! It's also a testament to the extreme power and efficiency of the core Excel code that everything works so smoothly despite this being n

This is an amazing idea! It's also a testament to the extreme power and efficiency of the core Excel code that everything works so smoothly despite this being not at all what Excel was designed for. There is something about everything-- data and "code"-- being so instantly and interactively available for inspection that makes everything seem simpler and easier to grasp.

alok-g 7y ago
Indeed. I have found Excel to be surprisingly fast at running this. I can also draw parallels to literate programming in this: The code and visualization of what the code is doing are very tightly integrated.
zweep 7y ago
90% of the world’s software developers don’t realize that they are software developers and their language is Excel formulas.
- samplatt 7y ago
  While that's true, a signification fraction of the remaining 10% is software devs cleaning up after the damage done by people who have over-estimated their ability and created a bunch of business solutions in VBA...
  - ViPrLa 7y ago
    Those same business solutions have generated more value than costs.
    - enraged_camel 7y ago
      You only say that because the value you mention is usually visible whereas the costs are usually hidden or not obvious. For example, in my experience Excel is really good at providing job security to those who develop complex spreadsheets. But the cost to the organization tends to be enormous as well, because spreadsheets are impossible to scale, which in turn makes the processes that rely on them impossible to scale.
      - kd5bjo 7y ago
        Any business that runs into that sort of scaling problem is already doing quite well for itself. How many of them would have gotten to that point if they needed to hire a software engineer to make every prototype that eventually led to the final working system?
        giantDinosaur 7y ago
        I currently work for a business that has done quite well replacing Excel solutions with proper databases. We've literally worked through the collapse of one company (and its rebirth after it was merged with something else) partially due to the sheer impossibility of managing Excel solutions that had grown out of control. Yes, they mainly grew out of control due to management problems, but the way they did so was remarkable in its rapidity and absurdity. Users were being bought machines with 16gb RAM so they could actually track their sales.
        mywacaday 7y ago
        Do you have a workflow or methodology that you use or do you analyse and develop from scratch? What are you replacing the spreadsheets with, desktop to web apps?
        sweeneyrod 7y ago
        16GB of RAM costs about as much as employing a programmer for a day.
        jakehop 7y ago
        You’re missing the point. If your sales tracking alone takes up 16GB of RAM on the client, that isn’t scalable - and potentially a horrible experience to work with. Your point is correct in the single case, but I think we’re discussing beyond that.
        Robotbeat 7y ago
asdfman123 7y ago
That's true. It's also important to point out that a lot of what runs neural networks is just multiplying a bunch of numbers by each other and getting the "best fit." It's all matrix math. I was surprised how straightforward it was after taking Andrew Ng's coursera course, since ML is considered to be so advanced and cutting edge.
- barrkel 7y ago
  Well matrices just encode linear functions, so it's not the most surprising thing that you'd use them for calculating a lot of linear functions.

alok-g 7y ago

Indeed. I have found Excel to be surprisingly fast at running this. I can also draw parallels to literate programming in this: The code and visualization of what the code is doing are very tightly integrated.

zweep 7y ago

90% of the world’s software developers don’t realize that they are software developers and their language is Excel formulas.

samplatt 7y ago
While that's true, a signification fraction of the remaining 10% is software devs cleaning up after the damage done by people who have over-estimated their ability and created a bunch of business solutions in VBA...
- ViPrLa 7y ago
  Those same business solutions have generated more value than costs.
  - enraged_camel 7y ago
    You only say that because the value you mention is usually visible whereas the costs are usually hidden or not obvious. For example, in my experience Excel is really good at providing job security to those who develop complex spreadsheets. But the cost to the organization tends to be enormous as well, because spreadsheets are impossible to scale, which in turn makes the processes that rely on them impossible to scale.
    - kd5bjo 7y ago
      Any business that runs into that sort of scaling problem is already doing quite well for itself. How many of them would have gotten to that point if they needed to hire a software engineer to make every prototype that eventually led to the final working system?
      - giantDinosaur 7y ago
        I currently work for a business that has done quite well replacing Excel solutions with proper databases. We've literally worked through the collapse of one company (and its rebirth after it was merged with something else) partially due to the sheer impossibility of managing Excel solutions that had grown out of control. Yes, they mainly grew out of control due to management problems, but the way they did so was remarkable in its rapidity and absurdity. Users were being bought machines with 16gb RAM so they could actually track their sales.
        mywacaday 7y ago
        Do you have a workflow or methodology that you use or do you analyse and develop from scratch? What are you replacing the spreadsheets with, desktop to web apps?
        sweeneyrod 7y ago
        16GB of RAM costs about as much as employing a programmer for a day.
        jakehop 7y ago
        You’re missing the point. If your sales tracking alone takes up 16GB of RAM on the client, that isn’t scalable - and potentially a horrible experience to work with. Your point is correct in the single case, but I think we’re discussing beyond that.
        Robotbeat 7y ago

asdfman123 7y ago

That's true. It's also important to point out that a lot of what runs neural networks is just multiplying a bunch of numbers by each other and getting the "best fit." It's all matrix math. I was surprised how straightforward it was after taking Andrew Ng's coursera course, since ML is considered to be so advanced and cutting edge.

barrkel 7y ago
Well matrices just encode linear functions, so it's not the most surprising thing that you'd use them for calculating a lot of linear functions.