The spreadsheet is a very practical and easy-to-use program to carry out work, such as invoices, payroll, control bank notes, commissions, payments, etc. One of the possibilities of Excel is the presentation of the data in an aesthetic way: where you can place several types of borders, use several types of letters, sort, save data with the help of Excel, such as consolidation, when making copies, graphics and others.
What is a Spreadsheet
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A spreadsheet is software capable of operating data, whether numeric or alphanumeric, placed in the form of tables. Originally created to handle financial data, now they are used to carry out various tasks, such as budget management, databases, and statistical analysis by generating graphical representations. This computer program is a document combined by rows and columns that in turn have a connection between them called a cell.
Generally, the calculations are worked between cells. The operations are called functions and they refer to a cell by name, which is a combination of column and row. For example, if you want to multiply the content of cells A1 and B1 within the sheet, the formula to enter will be = A1 * B1.
History of the spreadsheet
The electronic spreadsheet was created in 1970 by Dan Bricklin, a graduate engineer from Harvard University. The idea came from looking at tedious table-based financial calculations and seeing his teacher repeat the processes several times, throwing up constant errors.
As it was necessary to repeat all the steps if it was necessary to change an equation and there was no way to work it at home. Dan created spreadsheet applications by developing software that would allow tables to be made, transferred, and to verify previous calculations by viewing the results.
In addition, you could modify the previous results and simplify the tedious work of recalculating, everything could be seen in a transparent way. Hence his first name, called VisiCalc which means Visible Calculator, it is from there that he started the sale of his invention in 1979.
One of his collaborators on the project was Bob Frankston, who in two months of hard work throughout a winter, managed to develop the first version of the software containing the spreadsheet applications that worked on Apple computers. Its initial price was $ 100 and later companies emerged that competed with Dan's electronic spreadsheet such as SuperCalc, Microsoft Multiplan, Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel.
Parts of the spreadsheet
The parts or spreadsheet elements are as follows:
Rank
It is a set of cells identified according to the location of their starting point (upper left cell) and their ending point (lower right cell) separated by a colon, in which Microsoft Excel formats, conditions and formulas can be applied.
Column Labels
It refers to the initial row of the document, which is composed of letters in alphabetical sequence, which are used to name each of the columns of the document.
Row Signs
Also known as the row header, it is the initial column of the document formed by a sequence of numbers, which allows identifying all the rows of the document.
Cells
It refers to each of the squares or rectangles that you see when you open a new document in Microsoft Excel, which is called a cell. To activate it, you simply have to click on it. Also known as the point where a row and a column intersect. Its name consists of the letter of the column and the number of the row it is in.
A clear example is the first cell of the document located in the upper left corner of the spreadsheet. Its name is cell A1.
Uses of the spreadsheet
The use of the spreadsheet is increasingly widespread in areas such as engineering, accounting, finance, mathematics, among others. For this reason, it has become essential to know the basics of spreadsheets before starting to operate the rest of its functions.
Its main function is to carry out operations such as statistical analysis or basic operations such as addition, subtraction, product and quotient, which allows you to carry a large number of statistics and relate them to each other, working with different operations and graphing the results, it is also found available the Google spreadsheet, which facilitates the tasks.
Among the advantages of the spreadsheet, its different types of uses can be mentioned:
- They are ideal for performing multiple tasks, such as keeping accounting books, contacts, databases, payroll, among others.
- Solving statistical and mathematical formulas is practical for college students.
- Classify and organize information and perform complex calculations.
- Prepare management reports and keep track of their progress, sales, budgets, etc.
- Perform complicated algorithms and programming functions.
- Add, subtract, multiply, divide and carry out other operations automatically.
- Analyze large volumes of data and identify trends through tables and graphs, keep track of discrepancies, increases and decreases, among many other options.
Main spreadsheets
The most widely used spreadsheets worldwide are listed below:
- Microsoft Excel - Microsoft Office office suite. It is a spreadsheet program, developed by Multiplan, who uses the CP / M operating system (Control Program for Microcomputers). Later, other more advanced versions came out and that is when it begins to call Excel, and that is all when it enters the market in 1987 for the Windows system.
- Sun: StarOffice Calc, StarOffice package, refers to a spreadsheet that allows entering and organizing databases.
- OpenCalc: OpenOffice package, it is basically used to create a database, it uses three arguments referring to the spreadsheet ranges.
- IBM / Lotus 1-2-3: SmartSuite package. Classic program developed by the lotus company, for the IBM PC platform. It was very popular in the 1980s and today many companies trust its capabilities.
- Corel Quattro Pro: WordPerfect package. It is a spreadsheet program that is used to edit, enter, and manage data in the form of a table, it also allows mathematical exercises such as statistics, you can also work in the form of graphics and texts.
- KSpread: KOffice package, free Linux package. It originated from the Star Office project when it became a commercial package. It is designed as a main application to the application, by means of parameters it is indicated which component to open, that is, the spreadsheet or text processor.
The Excel spreadsheet is the most widely used application in the world. The amount of calculation possibilities it offers for all types of companies has made it a key software in the daily life of any person or company, regardless of its size.
Spreadsheet FAQs
What is a Spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet is an application that allows you to manipulate numeric and alphanumeric data arranged in the form of tables made up of cells. That is, they are tables that are organized in a two-dimensional array of rows and columns. The calculations are worked between cells. All the operations that are executed in the spreadsheet are called functions and these refer to a cell, which is the combination of columns and rows.What is the spreadsheet for?
A spreadsheet (or any other software that performs similar functions) is used to work with numbers easily and intuitively. It is an advanced spreadsheet that allows you to easily perform financial, administrative, database management, and statistical analysis tasks by generating graphical representations.What is the most used spreadsheet?
Excel software is the most widely used spreadsheet application in the world.How can I share a spreadsheet online?
Click on the Tools menu or on the Review tab in case of working in another version. Then, select "Share spreadsheet / Share book" found in options located in the drop-down menu. Subsequently, you must click on "Allow modification by several users at the same time" and select if you want the person to only view or edit, then "OK" to save.What types of spreadsheets are there?
Worldwide there are several spreadsheets that exist:Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Numbers, and Sheets.
