How Fast is Python in Excel?

A performance comparison of Microsoft's recently announced Python in Excel feature, and the Python Excel add-in PyXLL.

Results (Spoilers ahead!)
====================

Test 1:
PyXLL: 137 milliseconds
MS Python in Excel: Didn't finish

Test2:
PyXLL: 11 milliseonds
MS Python in Excel: 6.56 seconds

Test3:
PyXLL: 822 milliseconds
MS Python in Excel: 12.98 seconds / 3.55 seconds*

*when using cached arguments

Resources
=========

00:00 - Intro
00:24 - The test case
01:16 - Timing with the PyXLL add-in
02:40 - Setting up the test with MS Python in Excel
05:14 - Timing with MS Python in Excel
05:48 - Kill Excel and try something smaller
06:02 - A smaller test
07:28 - The result!
07:35 - A note on recalculation
08:27 - Bonus! A test using DataFrames and FastExcel
11:23 - Closing

[spilledgraphics]

Tony! I finally got the chance to watch this. Very, very interesting stuff to keep in mind. Curious: minute 1:53 can you referenced the entire columns and have "spilled results"? Also, nice editing move with Fast Forwarding on minute 4:40 😁

[phrrngtn]

I have not tried it yet but based on the documentation and videos like this, I am kind of amazed at how poorly architected the Microsoft offering is. Actually, let me elaborate on that a bit. When you see that some nice effort has been put into the UI (with the PY formula box; little green clocks for computation etc), it seems astonishing that the overall architecture seems so off. If one thinks that VBA is bad from a management and versioning point of view, then what is having the code as cells going to look like. What is going to happen when there is stateful code in the notebook that gets bitten by the execution/evaluation order?

[sujanmdsiful]

I just got the python enable in excel 365 license. But it's super slow for big data source. Getting timeout always.

[thiyagarajan]

Can you test Please... "VBA" v/s "PyXLL" v/s "MS Python in Excel", One is Fastest when the data have more than 10, 000 Rows with more than 10 columns....
Also test which one is fastest.... "VBA Code" v/s "Using Excel Functions Using in VBA Code" say for example 1 : VBA Code For FindOut Unique Values v/s Excel Unique Function Used in VBA Code
like that