This might not be as in-depth as you need, but Joel Spolsky's "You Suck at Excel" is a great first hour. <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=0nbkaYsR94c" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtube.com/watch?v=0nbkaYsR94c</a>
part 2 follow-up to ""From Memex to Hypercard" commentary:<p>"functional" tree structure[:<p>1) So, once get over the Steve Awk-ings stuff (geek stocking stuffer ideas)
and want something more determinate/functional; try excel with an in-depth 80's Q-bert theme. Just rotate excell display 45 degrees[0]. Extra excel points for adding drop shadows to excel cells to create the 3d q-bert board.
This is the 'diamond' screen view. See data structures information on tree traversal.<p>Rules/Restrictions for fetching/storing diamond screen cell data.
a) ALWAYS start at top corner.
b) Can not move left or right while remaining on same level.
c) Starting at top, can not go lower than imaginary line at widest point.
The 'determinate' line!
d) 'Useful' data/values can ONLY be stored in cell if complete cell touches the determinate line.<p>2) Open a 2nd excel spread sheet in 'square' screen view.
As traverse the diamond screen, store 'matches' in a free cell in same column.
this will be an 'array of data' when diamond screen traversal is complete.<p>So, at the point where can introduce the 'Event Horizon' line[1] and introduce the weighty lead in to 'signed' garbage collection aka negative / posative cancellation. What OS's tag as 'swap space'.<p>----<p>[0] : <a href="https://github.com/leonicolas/ReQbert">https://github.com/leonicolas/ReQbert</a><p>[1] : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lDG-bP3zg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lDG-bP3zg</a><p>[2] : excel as a digital crt storage device : <a href="https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/williams-demonstrates-crt-storage/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/williams-demon...</a>
A number of years ago, I came accross the FAST standard for financial modelling, and a company F1F9 that teach financial modelling. Somewhat related I suppose.<p><a href="https://www.fast-standard.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.fast-standard.org/</a><p><a href="https://www.f1f9.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.f1f9.com/</a>
Excel is, by far, the most popular programming language in the world. It's strong support of declarative programming is hard for those used to procedural programming (such as C, Python, etc.) to grasp.<p>It does have a few flaws when it comes to making assumptions about cell contents, and the handling of tables, but otherwise it's quite powerful.
re: part 3 follow-up to "From Memex to Hypercard" commentary:<p>Could call l-systems the electronic/virtual version of 'tally sticks'[0]<p>[0] : <a href="https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/roman-philosopher-pliny-describes-tally-sticks/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/roman-philosop...</a>
Learning with Lucy[0], a beginner excel course.<p>----
curated direct links from searching hackernews / search engines on 'excel'<p>* excel for everything : <a href="https://benn.substack.com/p/the-next-billion-programmers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://benn.substack.com/p/the-next-billion-programmers</a><p>* The World Cup of MS Excel : <a href="https://archive.ph/DgDYQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://archive.ph/DgDYQ</a><p>* user-centered approach to user functions in excel : <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/excel.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/...</a><p>* MS opens up Excel to custom data types with images, arrays and more : <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22759149/microsoft-excel-javascript-api-custom-data-types-feature" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22759149/microsoft-excel-...</a><p>* Lambda: the ultimate excel worksheet function : <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/lambda-the-ultimatae-excel-worksheet-function/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/lambda-the-ult...</a><p>* lambda-2d: An exploration of drawingas a programming Language, featureing ideas from lambda calculus : <a href="https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/2d-an-exploration-of-drawing-as-programming-language-featuring-ideas-from-lambda-calculus/overview/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/2d-an-exploration-of-draw...</a><p>* Using Java script functions in excel : <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-adds-support-for-javascript-functions-in-excel/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-ad...</a><p>* spreadsheet as software paradigm : <a href="https://medium.com/@vlapiner/spreadsheet-is-a-software-development-paradigm-70c871ff5f49" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://medium.com/@vlapiner/spreadsheet-is-a-software-devel...</a><p>* make excel spreadsheet behave as an integrated development environment (IDE) : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY6ri3blTQM" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY6ri3blTQM</a><p>* spreadsheets are graphs : <a href="https://neo4j.com/blog/spreadsheets-are-graphs-too/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://neo4j.com/blog/spreadsheets-are-graphs-too/</a><p>* excel turning machine : <a href="https://www.felienne.com/archives/2974" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.felienne.com/archives/2974</a><p>* from recursive functions to turning machines : <a href="https://people.irisa.fr/Francois.Schwarzentruber/recursive_functions_to_turing_machines/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://people.irisa.fr/Francois.Schwarzentruber/recursive_f...</a><p>* quick way to create an excel example to learn from -> free ai bot creates any excel formula you need : <a href="https://bgr.com/tech/game-changer-for-excel-free-ai-bot-creates-any-excel-formula-you-need/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bgr.com/tech/game-changer-for-excel-free-ai-bot-crea...</a><p>* unusual excel uses : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PLmtQZwmY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PLmtQZwmY</a><p>* excel 'card layout' : <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/secrets-of-excel-break-free-from-the-grid-layout-11f7cc5d4104" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://blog.prototypr.io/secrets-of-excel-break-free-from-t...</a><p>* excell infographics : <a href="https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/mastering-excel-infographics-7d4e92295f73" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/mastering-excel-infographics-7d...</a><p>* conways' game of life simulation in excel : <a href="http://dailydoseofexcel.com/archives/2011/04/06/conways-game-of-life-simulation-in-excel/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dailydoseofexcel.com/archives/2011/04/06/conways-game...</a><p>* explaining a structured excell game of life : <a href="https://www.j-paine.org/dobbs/life.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.j-paine.org/dobbs/life.html</a><p>----<p>[0] : <a href="https://www.learnwithlucy.rocks/courses/excel?coupon=earlydecimal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.learnwithlucy.rocks/courses/excel?coupon=earlyde...</a> from <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31878462">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31878462</a>
"From Memex to Hypercard"[0][1] might be insiteful digression related to 'spreadsheet architecture'.<p>Just keep in mind how libraries worked before the advent of the computer.<p>Decker[2][3] current modern take on hypercard.<p>various types of spreadheets with user interface (vs. use editor with a plain tabular text file):<p><pre><code> teapot : https://www.syntax-k.de/projekte/teapot/
visicalc : https://www.visidata.org/
sc-m : https://github.com/andmarti1424/sc-im
</code></pre>
or mix files & manipulating 'spreadsheet' text files, gawk[4], webawk[5], python awk[6].<p>not as compact as excel, but diy gui for awk[7] with screen[8]/menu[9] or gui design courses[10]<p>informal discussion about moving beyond 'text' files: <a href="https://twitter.com/llama_index/status/1733653470987825452" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://twitter.com/llama_index/status/1733653470987825452</a><p>--------<p>[0] : <a href="https://elearningindustry.com/memex-hypercard" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://elearningindustry.com/memex-hypercard</a><p>[1] : <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_We_May_Think</a><p>[2] : <a href="https://beyondloom.com/decker/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://beyondloom.com/decker/index.html</a><p>[3] : <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33377964">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33377964</a><p>[4] gawk : <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/</a><p>[5] webawk :<p><pre><code> a) https://github.com/agordon/webawk / https://agordon.github.io/webawk/
b) https://www.npmjs.com/package/awkjs
c) 'awk driven iot' : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14737978
</code></pre>
[6] pawk : <a href="https://github.com/alecthomas/pawk">https://github.com/alecthomas/pawk</a><p>[7] <a href="https://github.com/chriskiehl/Gooey">https://github.com/chriskiehl/Gooey</a><p>[8] screen: <a href="https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-use-linux-screen/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-use-linux-screen/</a><p>[9] menu : <a href="https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/menu-driven-shell-script/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/menu-driven-shell-script/</a><p>[10] HN suggested gui design courses : <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38591437">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38591437</a>
LibreOffice is a package of various applications usable under a common environment (including spreadsheet software, Calc).<p>One can then run various scripts to use/pull/push data to/from spreadsheet to other libreoffice applications (database, wordprocessor, forms, etc.)[0][1]<p>Specific theory not withstanding, learing how to use the various libreoffice applications together, sort of informal way of learning spreadsheet architecture.<p>list of libreoffice classes from internet search engine request:<p><a href="https://documentation.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/Documentation/en/GS5.2/HTML/GS5205-GettingStartedWithCalc.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://documentation.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/Documen...</a><p><a href="https://openclassrooms.com/en/courses/5873051-master-the-basics-of-spreadsheets" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://openclassrooms.com/en/courses/5873051-master-the-bas...</a><p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/step-by-step-spreadsheets-for-absolute-beginners" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.udemy.com/course/step-by-step-spreadsheets-for-a...</a><p><a href="https://www.coursera.org/projects/excel-for-beginners-introduction-to-spreadsheets" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.coursera.org/projects/excel-for-beginners-introd...</a><p><a href="https://www.yaclass.in/p/science-state-board/class-8/libreoffice-calc-13959/introduction-to-spreadsheets-libreoffice-calc-11415" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.yaclass.in/p/science-state-board/class-8/libreof...</a><p>------<p>[0] : <a href="https://help.libreoffice.org/6.1/en-US/text/shared/guide/scripting.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://help.libreoffice.org/6.1/en-US/text/shared/guide/scr...</a><p>[1] : <a href="https://documentation.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/Documentation/en/CG7.0/CG70-CalcGuide.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://documentation.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/Documen...</a><p>[2] : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgO40-CjYNY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgO40-CjYNY</a><p>[3] : <a href="https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/templates-and-extensions/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/templates-and-extension...</a>
part 3 of "From Memex to Hypercard" commentary:<p>"aligning/compressing planes"<p>For the final installment, merge the diamond and square excel screens/sheets to align/line things (compress) using l-systems[0][1][2][3] / turtle programing[4][5][6]<p>Basic execl l-system concept, is each cell in given square sheet column (highlighted with color of interest) has list of all corresponding similar diamond cells of same color. each square sheet column then is a different picture, an 'l-system' picture.<p>The trick to finding the diamond cells to put in corresponding square cell color block is XORing square cell color checking for with each diamond sheet cell. If get no color back, then add the diamond sheet cell number to current square sheet cell list (aka no need to mess with garbage results).<p>[0] <a href="http://cd.textfiles.com/amigaacs/amigaacs199806/Utilities/Shareware/Graphics/LParser/Lparser-Home-Page/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://cd.textfiles.com/amigaacs/amigaacs199806/Utilities/Sh...</a><p>[1] : <a href="https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/weavetech.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/weavetech.html</a><p>[2] : <a href="https://nathan.ho.name/posts/sound-synthesis-with-l-systems/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://nathan.ho.name/posts/sound-synthesis-with-l-systems/</a><p>[3] : draw l-systems with common lisp : <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23919080">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23919080</a><p>[4] : learning to program using python logo-like turtle : <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494004">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2494004</a><p>[5] : turtle graphics library (p5.js) : <a href="https://github.com/CodeGuppyPrograms/TurtleGFX">https://github.com/CodeGuppyPrograms/TurtleGFX</a><p>[6] : <a href="https://www.transum.org/software/Logo/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.transum.org/software/Logo/</a><p>Logo for kids : <a href="https://softwareprogramming4kids.com/logo/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://softwareprogramming4kids.com/logo/</a><p>logo programming : <a href="https://medium.com/@isetitra/logo-language-for-windows-mac-and-linux-ab184196bd20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://medium.com/@isetitra/logo-language-for-windows-mac-a...</a><p>logo tutorial : <a href="https://www.tutorialspoint.com/logo/index.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.tutorialspoint.com/logo/index.htm</a><p>powerfx : <a href="https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-microsoft-power-fx-the-low-code-programming-language-for-everyone/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-micro...</a><p>which language to learn : <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/comments/9emiwd/confused_about_which_language_to_learn/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/comments/9emiwd/confused_abou...</a><p>lambda, the excel ultimate worksheet function : <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/lambda-the-ultimatae-excel-worksheet-function/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/lambda-the-ult...</a>