alt Hacker NewsI watched the walkthrough video of the solutions and it's genuinely impressive. These aren't just "use VLOOKUP fast" challenges - they're algorithmic puzzles where Excel is the constraint.
What struck me is how similar it is to code golf or competitive programming, just with a different medium. The winner uses array formulas, INDEX/MATCH combinations, and nested functions in ways that most Excel power users would never think of.
The real insight though: Excel is probably the most widely-deployed functional programming environment in the world. Most "business users" are doing functional composition daily without realizing it.
Makes me wonder if we should be teaching programming concepts through Excel first, then moving to traditional languages. The immediate visual feedback is unmatched.
I think you should. But my own experience when learning programming was there were few ways of learning programming that seemed properly tested or pipelined to actually teach programming. You had to hodgepodge your own materials if you were like me and doing self learning, from half a dozen books and online courses and workshops. I felt like programming needs a Montessori - someone who deeply understands human learning and makes it easy for multiple personalities to learn at their own pace. IMO.