[andrewlgood]

I agree with the your statements. Would add that it is important to understand most developers of spreadsheets have never taken a programming class and do not fully understand many of the issues discussed in this thread.

Also, there is little motivation to the spreadsheet user to change. In the examples given by the author, the original creator of the spreadsheet is long gone by the time the problems surface.

[dnautics]

The cynic in me says that sometimes there is business value to keeping formulae away from review. When the regulators come knocking you get plausible deniability for "mistakes" and at least avoid treble damages.