On Wednesday, February 21, 2007 8:15 AM [GMT+1=CET],
Arnold Huzen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
At least the Dutch version of Excel uses the semicolon as a list
separator. Maybe because in Europe we use the comma as decimal
separator fractions? So for me it's as natural as it gets. The spaces
behind the semicolon do increase the readability. I'll keep that in
mind next time I create a new spreadsheet.
Arnold Huzen
<snip>
One way to help alleviate this is to use spaces in your formulas.
Another practice that can greatly improve readability is to use named
cells for common variables. This may slow things down a bit, I
haven't checked.
<snip>
Using spaces and named cells or ranges certainly makes life easier and is
highly recommended.
The semicolon is standard English syntax as a separator for items in a list,
especially when the items are complex and may themselves contain commas.
They are also standard in many programming languages e.g. "for (i=1; i<10;
i++)".
I used my first computerised spreadsheet in 1974. The colon was used to
signify a range as in "R11=SUM(R1:R10)" meaning that for all columns, the
cell in row 11 is to be computed as the sum of the cells in rows 1 to 10
inclusive (what the Americans call "1 thru 10"). The use of the colon was
decided from fairly standard English usage.
Harold Fuchs
London, England
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