Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a document made of a grid of cells, each identified by a column letter and row number such as B3. Cells hold text, numbers or formulas, and formulas recalculate automatically when the cells they refer to change. Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc are common programs.

Why it matters

Spreadsheets are the most widely used tool for budgets, lists, simple databases and quick analysis, because no programming is needed. Features such as sorting, filtering, charts and pivot tables turn raw rows into summaries. They are also a common source of costly errors, since formulas are easy to break and hard to audit.

Example

With prices in B2:B6, the formula below totals them, and absolute references keep a tax rate fixed when copied down:

=SUM(B2:B6)
=B2*(1+$E$1)

Here $E$1 always points to the tax rate cell, while B2 shifts to B3, B4 and so on.

Common mistakes

• Typing numbers directly into formulas instead of referencing a labelled input cell.
• Using a spreadsheet as a multi-user database, where simultaneous edits and size limits cause trouble.
• Letting the program auto-convert values; gene names or long IDs can become dates or scientific notation.

Related

• Pivot table
• Macro
• CSV
• Database

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