Excel team considering Python as scripting language: asking for feedback
Much as i would love for the power of Python in Excel it is important that whatever is done is consistent across the office experience. Some of us old enough to remember the multiple versions of VB-whatever across Excel, Word, Access and that in itself was a blow to productivity.<p>Yes they should choose Python, and in the process decide if it will be Python with a .Net library (standard and core as seperate libs please!) or IronPython.  This in itself is an important first choice.<p>Then it has to be done in a mechanism that enables the exact same libs and user written python code to work in the same way across all the Office products.<p>Other languages have been suggested, all good choices with their own merits.  Lua is a good chocie for compactness and speed. C# is lingua franca of commercial developers so would suit ISVs but i think too heavy for end user scripting. Nim or even freepascal maybe? Lastly whatabout just using VB.net consistently? VB is a great language for newbs and casual/adhoc programmers .... but it gets ignored because of problems with consistency of implementation by MS.<p>Last point i would like to make is IMHO the choice needs to be based on:
- ability to transpile to javascript so that Excel365 can be scripted from webapps 
- install-free deployment; should be built into Excel in a way it can be used without any user install for dev or runtime
- standard vanilla language, not a variant<p>Disclaimer: A huge fan and long time user of python here. I also spent largest part of working life in ISV world rather than end user land.