We explain what a spreadsheet is and what is the history of this computer tool. Also, what is it for and some examples.
What is a Spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet or electronic template is understood to be a type of digital tool that consists of a document composed of rows and columns in a table, thus forming cells in which it can be entered information alphanumeric and relate it in a logical, mathematical or sequential way.
Spreadsheets are a computer tool of enormous application and validity in the most diverse fields of human activity in the world today. From administrators, accountants, scientists and inventory managers, to professions less given to mathematics take advantage of it and its ability to automate certain operations, such as the ordering of mathematics. data or combinations of the four main math: Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Thus, a spreadsheet is a versatile computing tool, adaptable to different needs, and common in office software packages such as Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, etc.
Spreadsheet history
The first electronic data sheet was created in 1972, taking advantage of algorithms already patented a couple of years before by Pardo and Landau. His announcement took place in the articleBudgeting Models andSystem Simulation by Richard Mattessich, although the accepted inventor of spreadsheets as we know them is Dan Bricklin.
According to Bricklin, the idea arose from an extensive table drawn on a blackboard by a professor at his university, who, perceiving a wrong calculation almost at the end, had to raise it again from the beginning, erasing all his hard work. Seeing this, Bricklin imagined the possibility of an interactive spreadsheet in which these tasks would be much easier.
That first spreadsheet was called VisiCalc, and it was extremely important because it caught the attention of the world of business and the management towards personal computers (PC), until then had as a hobby.
What is a spreadsheet for?
A spreadsheet allows a wide variety of functions, such as:
- Enter data in lists or sequences of operations, save and print them.
- Order lists and data sets, applying alphabetic or other criteria.
- Apply formulas and formal operations to data sets to obtain results.
- Plot data sets and operations in different ways (pie, bar, etc.).
- Build automated digital templates.
Spreadsheet examples
A couple of examples from a table or spreadsheet might be:
