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Excel VBA and Power Query are regular programming languages. Nothing in particular has been solved by Excel, it's just that the languages that are built in are
by perl4ever 5y ago
Excel VBA and Power Query are regular programming languages.
Nothing in particular has been solved by Excel, it's just that the languages that are built in are disdained by software engineers so people assume there's something special about them. It's cultural. You can write a Lisp in VBA if you want.
Microsoft's attempt at low/no code appears to be Power Automate, and it's awful (imo).
- sokoloff 5y agoI’d wager that 99% of all excel workbooks in the world contain no VBA. Excel’s market power is in what you can do in the formulas, interactive exploration, and incremental progress not in the (fairly awful dev-experience) VBA.
- perl4ever 5y agoThat's true, but the point is, they haven't created anything that bridges the two worlds. They are just there, in coexistence. Well, then again, I also think you are also falling into the trap of underestimating the amount of VBA code, and businesses built on it, because of your cultural disdain for it.
- sokoloff 5y agoI don’t have any disdain for Excel or VBA. It’s clearly hugely useful, successful, and valuable. I’ve written some VBA; the DX is terrible, but I have massive respect for what they’ve accomplished and I readily reach for it when it’s the right tool. I wrote some powershell for a manufacturing site a few weeks ago. Didn’t enjoy doing it, but it was the right horse for that course.