As I consultant that works extensively in Excel, I understand your point. The lack of decent syntax highlighting, auto-indentation or “IDE mode” instead of the formula bar can be painful. Especially when working with models developed by others.
On the other hand, you can see it as a feature. It forces you to keep your formulas short, break them down in helper columns and overall make your logic cleaner. If you are writing a 4 line long formula, you are doing something wrong. Sytax highlighting would still surely help, but it is not a replacement for clean modelling.
On the other hand, you can see it as a feature. It forces you to keep your formulas short, break them down in helper columns and overall make your logic cleaner. If you are writing a 4 line long formula, you are doing something wrong. Sytax highlighting would still surely help, but it is not a replacement for clean modelling.