> I kind of wish they went for the matlab cell array style where a function can return an array, but it just becomes a data structured stored within a single cell.
I had a go at writing a DLL plugin for Excel that did this years ago. I ended up with a kind of SQL, where each cell has a result set of records. The purpose was to make a functional language for consultants starting with a familiar environment to them. I even integrated a system where you clicked the cell and a pop up would show the data records. It was an ugly proof-of-concept, using strings that just identified each result set, and using custom functions. Excel is beautifully functional, with some nice parallels with SQL, and your data flow/dependencies are naturally visible. Excel is far less scary to most consultants than imperative programming is. I wanted to be able to model the data flows, use sheets for consultants to define custom pure functions for our system, and the final outcome was a reactive data system where data updates could flow (push) into outputs. I failed to get it delivered because I failed to get the COM interfaces working working: I failed to tie together Excel automation as a library engine (Excel COM API), Excel custom functions (plug in DLL), Delphi 7, and my own code.
I had a go at writing a DLL plugin for Excel that did this years ago. I ended up with a kind of SQL, where each cell has a result set of records. The purpose was to make a functional language for consultants starting with a familiar environment to them. I even integrated a system where you clicked the cell and a pop up would show the data records. It was an ugly proof-of-concept, using strings that just identified each result set, and using custom functions. Excel is beautifully functional, with some nice parallels with SQL, and your data flow/dependencies are naturally visible. Excel is far less scary to most consultants than imperative programming is. I wanted to be able to model the data flows, use sheets for consultants to define custom pure functions for our system, and the final outcome was a reactive data system where data updates could flow (push) into outputs. I failed to get it delivered because I failed to get the COM interfaces working working: I failed to tie together Excel automation as a library engine (Excel COM API), Excel custom functions (plug in DLL), Delphi 7, and my own code.