why you SHOULDNT develop applications in Excel

[sumGirl]

Hey all, before I get a bunch of wordy opinions based on the subject
line (grin) let me tell you what I am really looking for. I am
proposing a small business app be written in Excel and in order to get
the proposal approved I need to provide a risk assessment of what
doing so means long term. I am looking for some thoughts on what the
risks are for building and supporting an app in Excel and thats what I
need from yuou guys!
-thanks

 

[db]

risk..?

business is built on risk, (blah blah blah)

the question here relates
to the "benefits / return".


Hey all, before I get a bunch of wordy opinions based on the subject
line (grin) let me tell you what I am really looking for. I am
proposing a small business app be written in Excel and in order to get
the proposal approved I need to provide a risk assessment of what
doing so means long term. I am looking for some thoughts on what the
risks are for building and supporting an app in Excel and thats what I
need from yuou guys!
-thanks

 

[Susan Ramlet]

You might get some good tips in one or more of the Excel newsgroups, as
well. I'd suggest posting there, too.

--
--
Susan Ramlet
MVP - Office

Please reply to the newsgroup. I cannot respond to private requests for
help. Besides, then the community doesn't benefit from your question!

 

[sumGirl]

Why even bother replying when its so obviously not the kind of help I
need? Get a life...

 

[sumGirl]

That comment was intended for "db" and not Susan.

 

[Beth Melton]

I don't think there's a lot of risk involved, provided it's developed
correctly which is true of any type of development. As a matter of fact,
there are several Office developers who target Excel almost exclusively.
Here's a great book that covers Excel programming along with best practices.
And like any good book, there is some content on the cons of Excel
development and how to work around those issues:

Professional Excel Development
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Excel-Development-Applications-Addison-Wesley/dp/0321262506

Also, as Susan noted, you might want to ask this in the Excel newsgroups
since that's where the Excel developers tend to hang out.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/