I just read a 127 comment thread about people arguing whether or not Excel was a database or not
@_sysengineer I love how this tweet just created version 2 of this debate. Incidentally, of course it is a database. And a Turing-complete programming language, and the reason we both can and can't have nice things.
@_sysengineer Excel is the database that stepped up
@_sysengineer I mean ugh I guess define what you mean by database lol. Seriously this is funny.
@_sysengineer It is. Anything structured storage of data is a database. What people are confused about is "database" and RDMS. CSV file is a database. JSON is a database. A word doc could be considered a database.
@_sysengineer Excel is not a database because a database will not try to convert my entered data into a goddamn date. 🔥🔥🔥
@_sysengineer LOL. that’s not the question. It is absolutely a database. A terrible database, but that fact cannot be denied
@_sysengineer Can I play too? There's an ODBC driver for Excel, if that's persuasive. But this feels like it's the proper place to name-call anybody who has a different view from me 😀
@_sysengineer Haha, that's like arguing whether a Swiss Army knife is a screwdriver. Sure, it can turn a screw, but you wouldn't want to build a house with it! 🛠️
@_sysengineer Have you gone down the rabbit hole of Excel Turing completeness? Apparently Excel is a programming language.
@_sysengineer 🤦♂️ It’s a database. A list on a piece of paper is a database. It’s simple.
@_sysengineer Although it does have some database-like features, Excel is fundamentally a spreadsheet application designed for calculations, data analysis, and charting. It’s not designed to handle the complexities of a full-fledged relational database management system
@_sysengineer It’s all nonsense anyways. A database at its lowest level is just a file on a server. Sure, there’s a bunch of helpers and tons of extra stuff on top to make it fast. However, at the end of the day, just a file.
@_sysengineer That sounds like a very refreshing change away from the other argument about HTML is/is not a programming language.
@_sysengineer I believe it’s is a text messaging system.
@_sysengineer What? No, Excel is a gaming platform! youtu.be/ax2UBISNv2A
@_sysengineer Excel is an application for spreadsheets. A Spreadsheet can be used as a database. Additionally a new york strip steak that has been dry aged 15 years, could be used as a coaster. Just like how I'm not sure this proves either point. And yet, it proves my point just fine.
@_sysengineer Personal shit take on this: The database is actually the file(s) on disk (or sometime in memory). Excel is just a program which interfaces with it. Sqlite, Postges, Mongo, MySQL, Access etc etc are just software glue between people (or other programs) and the DB itself
@_sysengineer I went through jr high long long ago using a slide rule and then at age 60, a few years ago, I coded a simple machine-learning algo. I’d never read that thread cuz it’s more or less missing the point
@_sysengineer Dang, you read all that just to find out its a database
@_sysengineer If I didn’t love Excel so much I would be surprised by the number of companies that Excel or an Access Database is their most critical application and IT doesn’t know it.
@_sysengineer I mean technically Excel is a program, but you can absolutely create and manage a database in Excel
@_sysengineer ... its literally a zipfile containing a bunch of xml that copypastes to a tab-delim csv. Like, a simple directory of plaintext csvs where each filename is the primary record key is faster, more scalable, and easily automated with git for history, logging, etc -and- [...]
@_sysengineer To be fair that sounds epic, can I get a link to that so I can read it too?
@_sysengineer Anything’s a database if you put your mind to it and don’t give a shit about ACID…