Referencing whole column

[Christina]

Let's say there are numbers in cells A1:A10 and B1:B10 and you create a
simple formula to add two cells =A1+B1 and copy it down. Is there a
compelling reason to use specific cell references for something like this
rather than =A:A+B:B?

 

[Jim Thomlinson]

There is no really compelling reason other than personal preference. I find
it easier to use A1+B1 as I find it a bit more clear, especially when you
have sheets with sumif, countif or array type formulas which reference entire
columns...

 

[Christina]

Thank you.

There is no really compelling reason other than personal preference. I find
it easier to use A1+B1 as I find it a bit more clear, especially when you
have sheets with sumif, countif or array type formulas which reference entire
columns...

 

[Pete_UK]

Well, it's slightly less typing to do =A1+B1 (6 characters) than =A:A
+B:B (8 characters).

If you wanted to, though, you could define a named range "An" to cover
A1:A10 and another named range "Bn" to cover B1:B10, then you could
have a formula like:

=An+Bn

in C1 and copy this down.

Hope this helps.

Pete