Microsoft is trying to integrate Python to Excel. But it’s not a replacement for complex scripting in VBA (which wouldn’t hurt), but rather a complement to writing functions.
One of them in the latest test build of Office 365 is called PY, and instead of the usual function notation, it will allow you to create more complex code in Python using popular libraries for working with tabular data (e.g. Pandas), demanding calculations for machine learning (Scikit-learn) and graphs (Matplotlib).
Python in Excel:
Python doesn’t run on your PC, but in the cloud
Python is very popular among data analysts, so its integration into Excel definitely makes sense. However, the practical implementation of the integration was met with some criticism.
Python and the package of libraries for data analysis is not directly part of Office, but the calculations take place in the cloud on Azure servers, after which only the finished data is returned to Excel.
As a result, everything will only work with an Internet connection and data will be constantly moved here and there, which can affect latency. On the other hand, it is in the cloud that Microsoft can better manage Python updates, the offer of libraries, and everything can mainly be calculated on powerful hardware.
S8m Microsoft mentions that it will be possible to use Python for demanding operations from the rank of machine learning and AI.
Python and operations from the rank of machine learning with scikit-learn
Only for Office Insider members for now
On Microsoft’s blog you can find a bunch of animations with examples of how to use Python in Excel, but for now only Microsoft 365 subscribers who sign up for the Insider program (not for Windows, but for Office) and activate the Beta update channel.
+
Microsoft is rolling out Python for Excel to Microsoft 365 subscribers in Insider Beta mode. You activate it in the account settings
Python for Excel should be available on builds 16.0.16818.20000but Microsoft itself adds that it will still be released gradually, so the transition to the beta version alone is not enough.
2023-08-23 15:45:25
#Microsoft #launches #Python #Excel #biggest #change #spreadsheet #years
