[jayd16]

We need a spreadsheet format that's more conducive to the professional programmer workflow.

Parsing them is actually very complex. You just have to hope your library can handle everything in excel. If you're a cli native I'm not really sure what you do.

Spreadsheets don't play very will with source control. If the underlying format was text and every cell and formula was on a new line it would work out ok. As it is now, merging them is very cumbersome....impossible for the laymen that might be the main user of the sheet.

By going with a speadsheet and not something like SQL, you lose a lot of rigor.

There's probably a few more needs but these are top of mind for me.

[s_dev]

More than that it's outright stupid.

Look at what the UK tried to do their contact tracing program through an excel file. They ran in to problems at 80,000 entries because excel has limits and the whole thing fell apart during the peak of a pandemic. Spreadsheets are not Databases so don't use them as such -- thus "spreadsheets everywhere" isn't a good principal.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54423988

Author seems to acknowledge the limits of Spreadsheets but then says:

"So you’re saying we should use spreadsheets more?

Yes! The hardest part about building most software is figuring out the process."

!! I'm lost at this point !!

[_y5hn]

That's the thing. It "works" just as long as filesize is under 200 MB, you don't need complex joins/queries/constraints and you don't make/allow for manual mistakes.

Suddenly out of the blue it doesn't work anymore. It's fine given you stay within scope and don't rely too much on it.

[asdff]

> We need a spreadsheet format that's more conducive to the professional programmer workflow.

CSV or TSV, pick your flavor.

[jayd16]

Has all the problems I mentioned.