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Microsoft Excel now Supports Python
A Match Made to Elevate Your Workflow
I just heard the exciting news that Microsoft Excel is finally supporting Python, thanks to a collaboration between the creator of Python, Guido van Rossum, and Microsoft themselves!
While some of you are pumped, skeptical eyebrows might be raised by others.
Let me tell you why this is a huge game-changer.
Most developers wouldn’t admit it, but that game-changing new app they’ve been tirelessly working on could have been made using Excel, the OG software dating back to 1985.
Well, that’s all changed now.
The Power of Python
With the new Pi formula, running Python code against the data in your spreadsheet is a breeze.
You can put your data into a pandas DataFrame or use database packages like Seaborn and Matplotlib!
This integration allows developers to create custom functions to wrangle and clean data sets, which, as we know, AI can’t get enough of.
Machine learning is possible right in your spreadsheet with tools like scikit-learn. But for those with an eye on deep learning training, hold your horses — it’s not happening with PyTorch and TensorFlow (yet!).
Sure, it sounds amazing, but there’s a catch:
Your Python code doesn’t run locally.
Instead, Microsoft’s Azure Cloud is your best friend. It keeps you safe from rogue spreadsheets and the horrors of managing Python versions locally. Microsoft teamed up with Anaconda to create a standard runtime for Python and Excel in Azure.
But of course, running Python locally would be faster and more privacy-friendly, but then, what would Microsoft be selling you?
If you’re craving a more open-source alternative, you could try switching to Linux and running LibreOffice, which already supports macros in both JavaScript and Python. But convincing your boss? Good luck.
