excelexcel-2013apps-for-office

Choosing an Excel development technology


I have an Excel spreadsheet and I've been tasked with displaying the data in an interesting way and adding some interactivity. I am trying to choose between creating an App for Office or using VBA macros to enhance the spreadsheet. What technology makes the most sense for my situation?

Primary concerns:


Solution

  • this will initially depend on what you are used to: if you are familiar with the OO environment, then stick with VBA. likewise, a Java/web background will see you settle into the Apps environment more quickly

    I can't speak with experience of using Apps for Office, but I can theorise that MS Office will prove to be a far more feature-rich, stable and integrated development environment for some time, if only because it's already been around for 20 years.

    MS Office add-ins can be fiddley to manage if users are not based on a single network, but this has long been the case and there's plenty of solutions/work-arounds published on the web

    unless you are going to start retailing the product, I think MS Office is more than viable here

    again, there's 20 years-worth of forum discussions, blogs and expert solutions for MSO at your fingertips, for free

    Also, I believe the MSO software license is a one-off overhead, whereas Office 365 etc is subscription.