Microsoft’s Excel Now Has The Powerful Python Capabilities!

Excel - we hope you do!

We’re also hinting at the one tool almost all businesses use – Microsoft Excel.

Surely, you’re familiar with the spreadsheet software application that was even taught at most schools? If not, you surely must have come across the application at work and quite possibly you even have the application installed on your mobile phone?

You know we’re bringing you news and are probably wondering what’s new with Excel, right?

Well, we’ll get straight to it. Yes, there’s something new with Excel and it’s about to snake itself to you!

Let’s explore:

What’s New With Microsoft’s Excel?

In a statement made by Microsoft Excel on August 22, the platform announced the launch of the public preview of the popular programming language Python integrated into Excel. #Whaaaat

This will allow advanced users of Excel to combine Python scripts with Excel formulas, all within the same workbook.

The feature will first be available to those who are a part of the Microsoft 365 Insiders Excel for Windows beta channel program. It will primarily be available on the desktop version of Excel.

The integration was brought about courtesy of a partnership with data science platform Anaconda, which brings Python libraries to Excel, running through Azure using the Anaconda Python distribution system.

How Will This Benefit Users?

Users will be able to use charting libraries like Matplotlib and seaborn to create Advanced Visualizations. It will also help them make use of advanced data cleaning techniques.

Users will be able to leverage the machine learning, predictive analytics and forecasting capabilities of Python libraries like scikit-learn and statsmodels.

While the integration will benefit analysts, programmers and advanced users of Excel immensely, this functionality has been made possible before by using add-ons and other libraries.

According to a post by Stefan Kinnestrand, General Manager - Product Marketing at Microsoft, “Python is one of the most popular programming languages today, loved by businesses and students alike and Excel is an essential tool to organize, manipulate and analyze all kinds of data. But, until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to make those two worlds work together.”

TechDogs-"A Screenshot Of Showing The Availability Of Python In The Microsoft Excel Software Application"

Source

What Did Microsoft Excel Say?

Microsoft Excel’s account on Microsoft’s Tech Community website wrote in a release, “Since its inception, Microsoft Excel has changed how people organize, analyze, and visualize their data, providing a basis for decision-making for the millions of people who use it each day.”
[contd.] “Today we’re announcing a significant evolution in the analytical capabilities available within Excel by releasing a Public Preview of Python in Excel. Python in Excel makes it possible to natively combine Python and Excel analytics within the same workbook - with no setup required. With Python in Excel, you can type Python directly into a cell, the Python calculations run in the Microsoft Cloud, and your results are returned to the worksheet, including plots and visualizations.”

What Did Others Say?

Guido van Rossum, Python’s creator and now a Microsoft distinguished engineer, said, “I’m excited that this excellent, tight integration of Python and Excel is now seeing the light of day ... I expect that both communities will find interesting new uses in this collaboration, amplifying each partner’s abilities. When I joined Microsoft three years ago, I would not have dreamed this would be possible.”

Stefan Kinnestrand, General Manager - Product Marketing at Microsoft, said, “Now you can do advanced data analysis in the familiar Excel environment by accessing Python directly from the Excel ribbon ... No set up or installation is required. Using Excel’s built-in connectors and Power Query, you can easily bring external data into Python in Excel workflows.”

Peter Wang, CEO and Co-founder of Anaconda, said "I am thrilled to announce the integration of Anaconda Distribution for Python into Microsoft Excel – a major breakthrough that will transform the workflow of millions of Excel users around the world.”

TechDogs-"Image Of Peter Wang, CEO And Co-founder Of Anaconda"

Source

So, Python programming capabilities along with Excel formulas is something to look forward to. What do you think of this integration? Should other programming languages follow?

Let us know in the comments below!

First published on Thu, Aug 24, 2023

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Enterprise Solutions Software Applications Microsoft Excel Python Anaconda Programming Formula Spreadsheets Workbook Integration

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