Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

Post by darwingr » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 9:23 PM UTC

daxfohl wrote: post #93

zupa-hu wrote: post #84

This is a game-changer level feature. I have been dreaming of this and more other power features for a long while. Well, except for the Name Manager part in their implementation, which seems to be a total disaster. I really hope this is a first version and they are going to keep improving it as they say. One should really define the functions in the cells and be able to reference them like =A1(2). The last thing a be…

Frankly Name Manager could also be way useful if they just generified it. Make it so that you can name a cell. Then,l you get named "variables" and, with your proposed lambda implementation, you get both named and anonymous functions in one. They are orthogonal features. As is, yes, Name Manager seems very ugly.

Post by infogulch » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 12:48 AM UTC

Grustaf wrote: post #122

infogulch wrote: post #31

Wow this is cool! I felt that something like this could be transformative to excel for some time. 2014: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8116224 > spreadsheets might be an interesting programming environment if you were restricted to the native functionality with a small addition. Namely, add a new value type: "anonymous function,"... 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21356824 > Excel needs exactly one t…

Totally agree, we even applied to YC 5 years ago with an excel replacement specifically because of this limitation.

Post by int_19h » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 7:18 PM UTC

ripley12 wrote: post #111

int_19h wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can also be referenced via the cells. You could argue that cells are themselves named, but those names are really indices into a 2D array, you can have relative references or do offset-based math if needed, and there's indirection (i.e. you can use an arbitrary value as an index to read/write another value). Given all this, an index of a cell containing a lambda is really a lot like a function reference, and can…

Huh, are you sure? I don’t think you can (currently) define a lambda in a cell without also calling it in that cell (which means the cell now evaluates to the function’s return value, not a function). The LAMBDA docs: “If you create a LAMBDA function in a cell without also calling it from within the cell, Excel returns a #CALC! error.” https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lambda-function-b...

Post by daxfohl » Wed, Dec 09, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

zupa-hu wrote: post #84

This is a game-changer level feature. I have been dreaming of this and more other power features for a long while. Well, except for the Name Manager part in their implementation, which seems to be a total disaster. I really hope this is a first version and they are going to keep improving it as they say. One should really define the functions in the cells and be able to reference them like =A1(2). The last thing a be…

Post by infogulch » Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 1:34 AM UTC

Grustaf wrote: post #134

infogulch wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The danger here is that MS can just observe your success and add the feature once you've proved it works, and your nice little blue gulf instantly turns red again. Though I might be interested in a redesign of the formula language; excel's is kinda crusty.

The idea had many downsides. But considering how little excel has changed in the 20 years I’ve used it, I wouldn’t be too worried about that particular issue!