Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Dec 28, 2022 14:44 UTC (Wed) by MrWim (subscriber, #47432)
In reply to: Not coalescing around None-aware by Wol
Parent article: Not coalescing around None-aware

I wasn’t really thinking about VBA - I was referring to the spreadsheet itself as a functional programming environment.

Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Dec 28, 2022 16:33 UTC (Wed) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (4 responses)

Functional? Just barely!!!

The problem basically is that any use of a spreadsheet beyond the elementary is probably using it as a database - a role for which it is particularly badly suited. (You know my views on relational :-) also equally badly suited for database TECHNOLOGY :-)

Throw into the mix people who don't know how to program, and the result is a complete mess. Even if they do know how to program, you know the saying ... "if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail ..."

Cheers,
Wol

Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Feb 25, 2023 0:17 UTC (Sat) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] (3 responses)

I am reliably informed that for a number of years in the 1990s the system that decided how to route high-voltage power across the UK was... an Excel spreadsheet (translated from creaky old Fortran by a friend of mine).

The lack of major fires, explosions, and large-scale power cuts in the 1990s suggests that this crazy lash-up did in fact work.

Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Feb 25, 2023 7:42 UTC (Sat) by donald.buczek (subscriber, #112892) [Link]

> The lack of major fires, explosions, and large-scale power cuts in the 1990s suggests that this crazy lash-up did in fact work.

This is a single example and it is diffucult to research how many (if any) problems were caused by this choice.

See https://thenextweb.com/news/excel-autocorrect-errors-plag... down to "Spreadsheet catastrophes" for some counter-examples.

Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Feb 25, 2023 11:18 UTC (Sat) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (1 responses)

Was the guy who ported it a Fortran programmer?

Written by a guy who understood programming, that sheet was probably a well designed database with a programming language. Everything needed to do a good job.

There are far better tools out there, but a decent tool in the hands of competent tool can get you far ...

The right tool in the hands of an expert, well that's another kettle of fish!

Cheers,
Wol

Not coalescing around None-aware

Posted Feb 25, 2023 12:14 UTC (Sat) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

> decent tool in the hands of competent tool

Whoops ...

decent tool in the hands of a competent expert

Cheers,
Wol