Naming a single cell doesn't solve the problem of accidentally using a different... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

andreasvc on April 21, 2013 | parent | context | favorite | on: Damn Excel – How the 'most important application' ...

Naming a single cell doesn't solve the problem of accidentally using a different range of values. In a normal programming language you would define a variable such as GDP containing a list of values for the countries of interest, in Excel every formula has to restate the range, which is what caused the mistake.

LyndsySimon on April 21, 2013 [–]

That's not the case.

You can have named ranges in Excel - in fact, you can have named ranges which are dynamically calculated based on a formula.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact