Introduction

Why I Wrote This Book

I approached this project with one goal in mind: To write the ultimate Excel book that would appeal to a broad base of users. That's a fairly ambitious goal. But based on the feedback I received from the first three editions, I think I've accomplished it.

Excel is the spreadsheet market leader, by a long shot. This is the case not only because of Microsoft's enormous marketing clout, but because it is truly the best spreadsheet available. One area in which Excel's superiority is most apparent is formulas. Excel has some special tricks up its sleeve in the formulas department. As you'll see, Excel lets you do things with formulas that are impossible with other spreadsheets.

It's a safe bet that only about ten percent of Excel users really understand how to get the most out of worksheet formulas. In this book, I attempt to nudge you into that elite group. Are you up to it?