A Structured Approach to the development of Solutions in Excel

TL;DR

This paper proposes a structured methodology for developing scalable and error-resistant solutions in Excel by employing techniques that mimic programming language steps, addressing the lack of formal structure in typical spreadsheet solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to structuring Excel solutions using techniques akin to programming, enhancing scalability and reducing errors in spreadsheet development.

Findings

Structured formulas improve solution clarity and maintainability.

The approach enables complex problem-solving within Excel without traditional programming.

Enhanced scalability reduces errors in large spreadsheets.

Abstract

Spreadsheets offer a supremely successful democratisation platform, placing the manipulation and presentation of numbers within the grasp of users that have little or no mathematical expertise or IT experience. What appears to be almost completely lacking within a "normal" solution built using Excel default settings is the deployment of any structure that extends beyond a single-cell formula. The structural elements that allow conventional code to scale without escalating errors appear to be absent. This paper considers the use of controversial or lesser-used techniques to create a coherent solution strategy in which the problem is solved by a sequence of formulas resembling the steps of a programmed language.