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i think spreadsheets could represent an interesting future programming paradigm, but excel is not the tool that'll do it.

by xj9 5y ago

goatlover 5y ago
Notebooks are the next-gen spreadsheets, except they use programming languages instead of formulas.
- hobs 5y ago
  And they require so much additional setup and processing power that they will never supplant spreadsheets.
- CJefferson 5y ago
  Jupyter is a joke compared to spreadsheets, it doesn't auto-recalculate when you edit cells.
  - TremendousJudge 5y ago
    yeah, and also it's 1-dimensional; you can only go up or down, never to the right
    - goatlover 5y ago
      Because the data is inside a data structure like a table or dictionary that you can output, iterate and map over however you like with the various Python and library methods or functions.
  - goatlover 5y ago
    True, but you have access to whatever Python libraries are installed, and your output is web-based. So you can potentially output anything a browser can display, including interactive 3D graphics and widgets. You also have access to the command line in Jupyter, so you can run whatever shell commands you like.
  - wibblewobble123 5y ago
    Observable does. So does Julia’s Pluto.jl. You’re not paying attention to the space but recalculating notebooks are gaining popularity.
  - FabHK 5y ago
    Not only that, it doesn't even keep track of the calculation graph, so it doesn't know what needs calculating, or in which order to calculate.
peterburkimsher 5y ago
I feel like the next major advancement in spreadsheets is nested hierarchy. Specifically, iTunes (especially the older interface from iTunes 5 to 10) allowed for Playlist Folders and Smart Playlists. Workbooks can have several sheets, but not in a nested structure. Same with SQL databases and tables. If I want to organise data (e.g. Country > Social group > Friend name/email/phone number) then it's easy to do in iTunes but difficult with typical Contacts apps. Web browser bookmarks are pretty good, but the end object has only 2 fields (name and URL). So what I do is I have a fake-radio track object in iTunes, with all the extra tags. Double-clicking it loads a page on localhost, which launches a PHP script that then opens a URL in my browser (for the friend list) or document.

i think spreadsheets could represent an interesting future programming paradigm, but excel is not the tool that'll do it.

by xj9 5y ago

i think spreadsheets could represent an interesting future programming paradigm, but excel is not the tool that'll do it.

goatlover 5y ago

Notebooks are the next-gen spreadsheets, except they use programming languages instead of formulas.

hobs 5y ago
And they require so much additional setup and processing power that they will never supplant spreadsheets.
CJefferson 5y ago
Jupyter is a joke compared to spreadsheets, it doesn't auto-recalculate when you edit cells.
- TremendousJudge 5y ago
  yeah, and also it's 1-dimensional; you can only go up or down, never to the right
  - goatlover 5y ago
    Because the data is inside a data structure like a table or dictionary that you can output, iterate and map over however you like with the various Python and library methods or functions.
- goatlover 5y ago
  True, but you have access to whatever Python libraries are installed, and your output is web-based. So you can potentially output anything a browser can display, including interactive 3D graphics and widgets. You also have access to the command line in Jupyter, so you can run whatever shell commands you like.
- wibblewobble123 5y ago
  Observable does. So does Julia’s Pluto.jl. You’re not paying attention to the space but recalculating notebooks are gaining popularity.
- FabHK 5y ago
  Not only that, it doesn't even keep track of the calculation graph, so it doesn't know what needs calculating, or in which order to calculate.

peterburkimsher 5y ago

I feel like the next major advancement in spreadsheets is nested hierarchy. Specifically, iTunes (especially the older interface from iTunes 5 to 10) allowed for Playlist Folders and Smart Playlists. Workbooks can have several sheets, but not in a nested structure. Same with SQL databases and tables. If I want to organise data (e.g. Country > Social group > Friend name/email/phone number) then it's easy to do in iTunes but difficult with typical Contacts apps. Web browser bookmarks are pretty good, but the end object has only 2 fields (name and URL). So what I do is I have a fake-radio track object in iTunes, with all the extra tags. Double-clicking it loads a page on localhost, which launches a PHP script that then opens a URL in my browser (for the friend list) or document.