Why access over Excel

  • Thread starter Thread starter ASING
  • Start date Start date
A

ASING

If one was working with large amounts of data, when or why
would one choose to use access over excel. In other words,
what are the benefits of access that excel can not provide?
 
Why a car vs. a blender? They both have parts that go in circles, right?
;-)

Seriously though...Access is a structured database deisgned for efficient
storage and retrieval of information. Excel stores information, but
depending on how you use it may require entering duplicate data (in each
row). Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe there is a 65K
record limitation in Excel, whereas in Access you are limited only by the
file size and the number of bytes per record.

There's more, but that's my version of the basics.

HTH,

--
Kevin Hill
President
3NF Consulting

www.3nf-inc.com/NewsGroups.htm
 
If one was working with large amounts of data, when or why
would one choose to use access over excel. In other words,
what are the benefits of access that excel can not provide?
Click to expand...

As Kevin says, that is a false comparison. Excel is a spreadsheet, a
very good one; Access is a relational database. It is most
emphatically NOT a "big spreadsheet", and a lot of folks have come to
grief by treating it as one!

Excel is good for "what if" calculations, two-dimensional grids with
calculations going both directions, data analysis, graphing.

Access is good for storing data in an orderly, organized way,
searching for data with great speed and flexibility, sorting data,
assembling multiple related sets of data into coherent logical
structures.

As I sometimes say - "You can drive nails with a crescent wrench but
that doesn't make it a hammer". Both are valuable and useful tools;
but they're not interchangable.
 
The answer is dependant on what sort of data you use, and what you use it
for. It has no relationship to the amount of data you are working with
(within reasonable limits)

Excel is a spreadsheet program. The miracle of spreadsheets (which were
probably the first "killer" computer application) is that they can do
multiple calculations on multiple data items, all of which will cascade
through to an end result. If your primary desire is to do calculations,
Excel beats Access easily.

Access is a relational database program. It's primary function is to handle
the relationships between items of information. Assume, for example, you
had a list of names and addresses and birthdates. You wanted to compare
that list against another list that had contributed to a particular
political candidate. Access does that easily. You could also easily
determine if persons of a certain age on your list are more or less likely
to have contributed. The function of databases is to compare, collect or
collate various collections of information, and extract information from
those relationships.

This is, of course, an oversimplification. Access does calculations well
(but not as well as Excel). Excel will manage data well (but not as well as
Access). But, to over simplify:

If you are primarily dealing with numeretic calculations -- go with Excel
If you are primarily dealing with data management -- go with Access.

Hope this helps
 
Back
Top