Why does everybody hate Excel?

[hellfire45]

In the last 5 years of working with Excel and VBA, I have numerous times run across people who flat out seem to dismiss the utility of using Excel, sometimes entirely.

I hear things like:

"Excel isn't robust, we have to put it in SAP, Alteryx, Access etc.."

"VBA doesn't add value to the end user."

"VBA and Excel isn't programming."

"Excel workbooks are too slow."



Everybody seems to reject Excel first as a potential solution to problems. I have 100 page long VBA programs that do hundreds out hours of manual work in 10 minutes and when I write an excel formula that has 25 nested functions in it, surely that too is programming.

Anybody else run into this kind of attitude and feel frustrated by it? As an analyst that primarily uses Excel and Tableau it is frustrating when an automation I create in Excel is easily dismissed, even after completion, in favor of virtually any alternative.

When I create an automation in 2 weeks that does a variety of things and then the IT department insists that it be put into SAP, and it takes them a month to even complete the scoping session I think to myself "hmm...Excel doesn't look so bad now for its versatility, flexibility and speed of implementation."

Thoughts?

 

[RickXL]

Excel is that program that people think they are too good for until they realize Excel is so useful for so many tasks.

Agreed. It is useful and it is surprising what you can achieve with it.

However, I would argue that does not mean that you have to "like" it. I used to use SAS at work and I DID like that. It used tables rather than worksheets although it called them datasets. Instead of the keyhole programming that is worksheet formulas you could use a program editor to create the code for each column. So it worked a bit like Excel but you were not constrained to shovel all the code into a cell. You could spread it out over several lines to make it understandable and it did all that without needing the rigour of Access or any other database.

It would also work on most generally available machines including mainframes. It had its own version of userforms and all the controls that implies.

The code was often quite short for what it did. For instance: PROC SORT; BY A B C D; would sort the last dataset into order of the four variables quoted. Excel can make that about a third of a page and I would struggle to do it from memory.

My last SAS mainframe system had around 3000 users. To make a code change I just edited a file and saved it. All 3000 users had access. No concerns about Add-ins, versions of the application, server software distribution, refresh cycles etc.

The "professional" programmers did not like SAS, either. They viewed it as being like a toy Meccano set while they had access to quality materials and engineering workshops by comparison.

"Liking" is very subjective. I think that is about all you can conclude.

Regards,

 

[thes4s67]

I don't hate Excel.. so not everybody hates excel :O

 

[gallen]

8 years ago I started work at a global flooring company in a position that had little to do with excel though had almost everything to do with numbers. However as someone who had used VB6 a few years back I was aware of what excel COULD do if you knew how to do it. My brother who worked for IKEA told me almost all of IKEA's systems were written on Excel, at least the managers tools were.

Luckily my job had, sometimes, periods of 'waiting'. So I set about looking at the current systems and designing how they could be improved to reduce human error. As the current systems were mainly paper based, it wasn't too difficult to get people to see what CAN be achieved with a little IT knowledge.

I set about using Excel to help me improve things. Then I'd look at what I'd done and say "It would be great if it did this.." then I'd learn how to do it. Now I have written many many utilities in Excel that makes many people's jobs more efficient. Yes I'd have liked to have used visual studio and SQL but to be honest thats major overkill for the projects I've done. Excel is amazingly great value when you consider cost against what it can achieve. For most small to medium businesses it will provide a perfect solution especially when the decision makers see the cost compared to the 'better' programming languages. The directors here love what I've done and am currently being paid to do something that was pretty much just a geek's hobby.

Haters gonna hate.

 

[DataAnalyst]

I hate Excel because it can be like working with an uncooperative toddler. When it tries to "think" it almost always is wrong! I wish it would do only what I tell it to. For example, I came here today looking for a way to keep the task pane from opening automatically whenever I go to Print Preview. I have more than 20 sheets to format and print, and having to keep closing the task pane is really slowing me down! When I want the task pane, I will open it!!!

However, it is useful for many things and I do almost all my work in it. I analyze relatively small amounts of data and make reports for my boss.

I also use MS Access - it's the only database I've used extensively - and I think it's very useful for making small databases and pulling data from a large database, which is what I currently use it for. I found it easy to learn and use back in the day. I think the difference between me and other users is, I have an affinity for technical stuff, but many people are intimidated by it. It's like math - it's not actually that hard, but a lot of people are afraid of it. It's a shame.

 

[Joe4]

I hate Excel because it can be like working with an uncooperative toddler. When it tries to "think" it almost always is wrong!

Are you sure that you aren't talking about Word?
That's 100 times worse then Excel is!

 

[DataAnalyst]

Yes, Word is bad too!!!

 

[Joe4]

Yes, Word is bad too!!!

No, no!
Excel: GOOD
Access: GOOD
Word: VERY, VERY BAD!

 

[RickXL]

When it tries to "think" it almost always is wrong!

I have a great deal of sympathy with that.

It results in users making certain types of progress quickly then, seemingly without warning, it will "help" you with something that you did not want to be helped with and now you are stuck because you don't know how to "undo" the help.

Oh, and I agree about Word. I have spent many a happy hour arguing with the auto numbering feature for lists - and pasting in tables from disparate sources - and making lines in drawings stay put - and making objects appear where you want them - and changing the color of bullet points - and making all paragraphs format the same way and, well I could probably think of lots more if I put my mind to it.

Regards,

 

[DataAnalyst]

Thanks RickXL!

When my boss wanted me to be faster I suggested we stop using bulleted lists for my meeting agenda. I turned off the automatic bullets and now I use tabs and a dash to begin the lines. Much faster! Ha! Outsmarted Word!

 

[RickXL]