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Comment by module0000

If spreadsheets work for your use-case or industry, then by all means keep using them. Occasionally, I'll use one myself for some business purpose. However...the problem with spreadsheets is that people routinely use them for the wrong reasons. Those wrong reasons are the cause of the spreadsheet hate. It's not spreadsheets themselves that cause this, it's people with limited knowledge and limited ambition to learn how to use the correct tool for a task.

The saying "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" applies.

Often, someone using spreadsheets will suspect that their task may be better accomplished in some manner of programming. This leads them to try to do it. If they are in this situation, chances are, they are not a professional programmer. They are going to have a poor experience, and likely fail. This is due to sub-par or non-existent software engineering skills, and not due to spreadsheets being the correct tool for every task.

parent module0000 7 years ago

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