this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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i...isn't that the entire point of excel? what is it for if not to store data?
similarly i remember a reddit comment that broke my brain, saying no one should be using excel, they should be using a 'cell matrix organizer' or similar. we all can name 5 off the top of our heads
Excel is this weird mix of storing small amounts of data but so good for visualizing data. If people are saying it shouldn't be used to store data they mean massive amounts of data as opposed to something like some small scale accounting for a fund raiser.
Excel has a purpose, but storing data long term isn't it. It's for calculating data. It shouldn't be the single source of truth.
One of the things Microsoft did to make it work was extending the row limit from 65k to 1M. Apparently, Economics professors were very excited about that one, which explains a lot.
Storing data is only one of the parts to the formula of what makes a database. Proper databases require structured storage of the data and some way to query the data constructively. Excel did not have those features until Microsoft gave up trying to convince people to not use it as a DB and added it to Excel.