Difference between = and =sum

Metal_warrior

New Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
3
Office Version
  1. 365
Platform
  1. Windows
Hello, I have been wondering if there is a difference between the = and =sum formulas for making calculations. Currently at college and the teacher teaching excel mentioned that using = was the way to go and that using =SUM was wrong for numerous reasons but did not explain why. I have always been using =SUM with the FX option and it has worked for me, lost 15% off a work turn in cause I used =SUM instead of =.

Thank you!

Danny
 

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Welcome to the Board!

While it is still usually returns the correct result, it is totally unnecessary and serves no purpose if you are not truly trying to SUM a range.

For example, if you wanted to add A1, A2, A3, and A4 the two ways you could do it are:
Excel Formula:
=A1+A2+A3+A4
or
Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1:A4)

I will often see people try to do this:
Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1+A2+A3+A4)
and it baffles me!
It is totally unnecessary to do BOTH (its like a "double positive").

I wish I knew why so many people try do it that way.
What is the logic behind it?
Is it a holdover from some old programming langauge or something?
 
Upvote 0
Welcome to the MrExcel forum!

I assume you have an example like this:

Excel Formula:
=A1+B1

versus

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1+B1)

And in this case, I agree with the teacher. As you can test, both formulas give you the same answer. The difference is that the second formula adds a redundant step. The A1+B1 already reduces the 2 values to 1 value, and the SUM just sums up a single value, which is unnecessary. You can try both versions using the Evaluate Formula tool. So it adds something not needed, which means it will take longer to process, and it's also harder to understand the formula for someone coming later. The SUM makes more sense like this:

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1:B1)

or

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1:Z1)

which will actually save you from having to type in 26 cell names.
 
Upvote 0
Welcome to the MrExcel forum!

I assume you have an example like this:

Excel Formula:
=A1+B1

versus

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1+B1)

And in this case, I agree with the teacher. As you can test, both formulas give you the same answer. The difference is that the second formula adds a redundant step. The A1+B1 already reduces the 2 values to 1 value, and the SUM just sums up a single value, which is unnecessary. You can try both versions using the Evaluate Formula tool. So it adds something not needed, which means it will take longer to process, and it's also harder to understand the formula for someone coming later. The SUM makes more sense like this:

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1:B1)

or

Excel Formula:
=SUM(A1:Z1)

which will actually save you from having to type in 26 cell names.


The formulas are like these

=SUM($J$4*D9)
=SUM(F4:F8)
 
Upvote 0
The formulas are like these

=SUM($J$4*D9)
=SUM(F4:F8)

For the first formula, it resolves to a single value before the SUM is needed, so the SUM is redundant. For the second example, that's an entirely appropriate use of SUM. I'm glad you got something useful from Joe's and my thoughts.
 
Upvote 0

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