Download the featured file here: https://www.bluepecantraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Recursive-Lambda-vs-UDF.xlsx

The main aim of this video is to introduce the idea of recursion within the new LAMBDA function in Excel 365. Recursion is the ability to loop - for a function to refer to itself.

Alan Turing hypothesized that there would one day be a machine that could solve any problem. Excel is now "Turing complete" as it can solve any computational problem (according to Microsoft) with LAMBDA's recursive capabilities.

Here is a good article on this subject: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/excel-blog/announcing-lambda-turn-excel-formulas-into-custom-functions/ba-p/1925546

I compare the LAMBDA function with a VBA user-defined function which is capable of exactly the same thing. I get both functions to remove special and numeric characters from my data.

Here’s a copy of the UDF code featured in the video.

Function CLEANDATAVBA(ddata As String, uchars As String)

Do Until uchars = ""

ddata = Replace(ddata, Left(uchars, 1), "")
uchars = Right(uchars, Len(uchars) - 1)

Loop

CLEANDATAVBA = ddata

End Function