Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Jon Udell on the Nerd's Spreadsheet

Posted by kdawson on from the easy-way-to-generate-code dept.

rcs1000 writes "Jon Udell has a interesting article on a new type of spreadsheet: one targeted specifically at techies. The skinny is that any spreadsheet is actually a computer program, only in Resolver One, the product profiled in Udell's piece, this is explicit rather than implicit. And the code is IronPython rather than VBA. There are some other cool things it does — allowing cells to contain objects, and allowing spreadsheets to back-end websites." Udell's screencast gives a good demo, though the presenters are a bit hard to hear due to the phone connection. Resolver's own screencast is an alternative.

8 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Can it... by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 5, Funny

    Multiply 850*77.1 correctly?

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    1. Re:Can it... by Daimanta · · Score: 3, Funny

      And if you can, how do you maintain compatibility with Office Excel calculations?

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    2. Re:Can it... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, it uses the new, patent-pending doublecalc technology. It's the equivalent to doublethink for calculations. Doublecalc allows the same result to be both 65535 and 100000 at the same time, thus remaining compatible both with conventional math and with Excel.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  2. Allowing spreadsheets to what? by winkydink · · Score: 4, Funny

    and allowing spreadsheets to back-end websites

    munge them?
    hack them?
    copulate with them?

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

    1. Re:Allowing spreadsheets to what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, back end. See Jack Thompsons latest court files for details.

  3. Re:Logical conclusion by Teun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Life is a grid with a logic tree, dude. It's called Tetris.
    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  4. Just found a new way to sleep at work by russ1337 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow... that screencast is perfect for me to sit facing the screen with my eyes closed, and anyone that walks past my cube will think i'm doing some spreadsheet wizardry....

    nice. Now i'll go someway toward meeting the quota for those that sleep at work.

  5. Re:Why should I use this rather than SQL? by Yetihehe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because there is no need for the user to write code themselves, this allows for sophisticated data analysis without assistance from IT
    Do you know what that means? Us techies will no longer be needed and we'll be disposed. Just like techie::destroy(); !
    --
    Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers