Why You Shouldn't Use Spreadsheets For Important Work 422
An anonymous reader writes "Computer science professor Daniel Lemire explains why spreadsheets shouldn't be used for important work, especially where dedicated software could do a better job. His post comes in response to evaluations of a new economics tome by Thomas Piketty, a book that is likely to be influential for years to come. Lemire writes, 'Unfortunately, like too many people, Piketty used spreadsheets instead of writing sane software. On the plus side, he published his code ... on the negative side, it appears that Piketty's code contains mistakes, fudging and other problems. ... Simply put, spreadsheets are good for quick and dirty work, but they are not designed for serious and reliable work. ... Spreadsheets make code review difficult. The code is hidden away in dozens if not hundreds of little cells If you are not reviewing your code carefully and if you make it difficult for others to review it, how do expect it to be reliable?'"
Spreadsheets - best and worst thing there is (Score:4, Funny)
Spreadsheets are like a blank piece of paper with grid squares. Which means you can put anything down, tied together with some formulae, and it's brilliant.
Which is also why it's complete pants - the "anything goes" really does mean that.
(That, and it will tend to break when you most rely on it)
Re:What he's really saying is (Score:5, Funny)
I know exactly how to use spreadsheets properly. Just don't.
Re:Some things stick (Score:5, Funny)
Were the survey results collated on a spreadsheet?
Re:Some things stick (Score:5, Funny)
nope Access Database.
now which is scarier?
Re:Spreadsheets as a software development platform (Score:4, Funny)
is that why we're fucked?
Re:What he's really saying is (Score:5, Funny)
No kidding. Also, it MAY not be that easy to review the code in a spreadsheet, but it is VERY VERY EASY to test it. If you want reliable spreadsheets its PERFECTLY possible to test them to the Nth degree, far more so than with most other code. You have a place to put the tests, and a place to put the expected results, its all rather devilishly simple actually. For that matter you can document the bejeezus out of them too.
I think spreadsheets are like any sort of simple interpreted language. Idiots can easily blow their left foot off. Real software engineers can also do some very cool stuff. Most of the perl code I've seen is ugly as all hell and pretty worthless, but MY perl code is a thing of beauty that people maintain for years. Its all in how you use the tool.
Re:What you're really saying is (Score:5, Funny)
... where the company's years-old ENTIRE lifetime of work and data is passed around e-mail as a 80MB Excel attachment.
This... is retarded enough to loop all the way around the spectrum and land squarely on awesome.
Re:A Formula only an Actuary could Love (Score:5, Funny)
What is the end result for this one cell?
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