Learn to code in Python in Excel tonight in NYC | Hacker News Reader

Learn to code in Python in Excel tonight in NYC

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21 pointsvj4411 comments

For those looking at this, just a head's up - this is YC '12 DataNitro (formerly IronSpread) talking about their product.

Also, as a side note since I like python, it's definitely not the only way to do python in Excel. With pyWin32, you can register python code as a COM server and call it from Excel in VB. Additionally there's projects like pyxll which, while not the prettiest, are at least free for non-personal use.

I will say this though - thank you, DataNitro, for having a free tier.

I've attended a talk from one of the co-founders in a python for finance conference, the demos looked really good, only draw back I thought was that if you develop anything using DataNitro, anybody wanting to see the spreadsheet and run your code would need a licensed copy of DataNitro on their machines for it work.

I have been using DataNitro for a while now..and it really makes using Excel a lot more fun knowing there is the power of python behind it

Excel? Is this serious?

Edit: Reasons for downvotes, please? I have said nothing nonconstructive. I am seriously baffled as to why techies are still using Excel rather than an actual database.

Absolutely! Excel is ubiquitous, and is general purpose enough it can do essentially anything. Adding python to the power if an instant feedback and interactive data grid, and you've some serious Get Things Done horsepower for the average joe/tech/eng/manager/sales person.

"Is this serious?" is nonconstructive.

How so? I was genuinely unsure if this was a joke.

You're likely just a victim of Poe's Law then. There seems to be increasing sensitivity over middlebrow dismissal lately, and your comment is easily misunderstood as such.

Also, ain't no one smack talks mah spreadsheets. Thems run the business (in the insanely non-ideal real world, for better or worse).

"X? Is this serious?" typically signals sarcasm about X. I take it you didn't mean it that way.

(Irrelevantly, I'm reminded of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziH9St7ajuw#t=39s)

And to reply to your edit: I hadn't thought of it as a database. The typical use I see is using Excel as a frontend for interacting with the database data.

To be sure, people do use Excel as a DB, but I think it's handier to think of it as an interactive mesh than a DB. Sort of like how pandas with IPython is a great way to interact with and explore data.

... Dang, imagine if you had pandas running with Excel on top. That would probably be pretty cool.

What do you mean? Excel by it's nature of using rows and columns to store information is a database...

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