Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet application that provides an easy-to-use interface for data manipulation and analysis. It is particularly popular among users for its intuitive functions and features, making it accessible for performing various computations. Despite being around for over 40 years, Excel remains dominant in many organizations, with an estimated 1.1 billion users globally ³.

However, Excel does have limitations. It can handle a maximum of 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns, which may not be sufficient for large datasets typical in big data scenarios ³. Additionally, managing multiple Excel files for tailored reports can become cumbersome, prompting some users to seek alternatives like Python for more complex data tasks ³.

While Excel is effective for many tasks, it may struggle with complicated computations. To address this, Excel offers an add-in interface that allows external applications to enhance its capabilities ⁴. This flexibility enables users to extend Excel’s functionality to meet specific computational needs.