Never underestimate the power of your Excel skills! They are your gateway to learning Python. Skeptical? Here's an example. Have you ever written a formula to add data to an Excel table? Have you then dragged the formula down the column to populate the cells? You can think of this in natural language as: "Hey, Excel! For each cell in the column, can you apply this formula for me?" Intuitive, right? Let's break this down. While you might not think of it this way, programming code is just a collection of instructions. Excel formulas are instructions. So, Excel formulas are a form of code. To revisit the natural language: "Hey, Excel! For each cell in the column, can you run this code for me?" By dragging the formula, you're telling Excel to run code more than once. With me so far? Let's map this to Python. In Python, you can run code more than once using what's called a loop. To continue the example from above, here's the Python loop: for cell in column: # code goes here Intuitive, right? This is just one of many examples of the parallels between Excel and Python. Mapping your Excel knowledge to Python dramatically lowers the learning curve. You've got this if you want it! #Excel #PythonInExcel #MicrosoftExcel
W każdym "programie do pisania programów" są pętle i parę innych struktur.
I'm still trying to get my head round PiE. But your book is defo helping. As an accountant I always come at it from a "how can I automate finance processes"? Python in VS Code with Codex does this with ease. Still trying to work out where PiE would be better suited for certain processes. I'm sure there are areas where it will as accountants tend to feel more at home in an xlsx then a py. I know how to code Python but feels like I'm having to relearn it a little the PiE way. But that's just another challenge which I'm actually enjoying.
This is such a good way to frame it. Many people underestimate how much programming thinking they already use in Excel through formulas, relative references, and dragging logic across rows. Once you start seeing formulas as instructions that run repeatedly, Python feels far less intimidating and much more familiar. A great reminder that learning Python is often about translating existing skills rather than starting from zero.
This is a great mental model David Langer Reframing Excel formulas as vectorized instructions and repetition makes Python feel far less foreign—and helps people realize they’re already thinking programmatically. It’s often a mindset shift, not a skill gap.
Excel users already think in terms of iteration and transformation so learning Python is less about new concepts and more about swapping the interface from cells to text.
I was surprised to learn that both Python and Excel have the LAMBDA() function.
Seeing Excel formulas as code makes Python feel less scary for spreadsheet lovers
David Langer This is a great way to reframe the learning gap. Connecting Excel formulas to loops makes Python feel far less intimidating for Excel users. Clear, practical, and very encouraging.
📌 P.S. - If this style of learning Python using your Excel skills resonates with you, it's how I teach Python in my new book available now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Python-Excel-Step-Step-Langer-ebook/dp/B0G8D82D7W/