Python is coming to Microsoft Excel

Have you always wanted to do more with Microsoft Excel? Microsoft has just announced a public preview of Python in Excel, which would allow users to add Python code directly into a spreadsheet.

This would allow data analysts, engineers, marketers and students who are learning data science to work with Python code to perform complex statistical analysis, advanced visualizations, predictive analytics and machine learning in Excel.

Users will be able to enter Python code directly into the cells using the new =PY function, because Python will be integrated directly into the Excel grid, without the need to install additional software.

Microsoft explains that this new feature is based on the Anaconda distribution of Python, a company oriented towards data scientists and engineers that is also friendly for beginners. Anaconda includes many libraries and pre-packaged packages such as pandas, Matplotlib, scikit-learn, NumPy and SciPy.

Extraction of dates using regular expressions. Microsoft

Microsoft indicates that Python in Excel runs on the Microsoft cloud, via Microsoft 365. This means that the code is not executed locally (on the machine), but in an isolated container using Azure Container Instances and separated from other processes to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

The data of the users’ spreadsheets are controlled by the specific functions xl()and =PY() to guarantee the security of the data and the execution of the only authorized operations.

The preview of the Python integration on Microsoft Excel will be available for Microsoft 365 Insiders using the beta channel in Excel for Windows.

Source: “ZDNet.com “