CPSC-130
Computing With Spreadsheets
Week 1
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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Introduction
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This course; (http://cs.calvin.edu/cs/130)
Where do spreadsheets fit?
The history of spreadsheets
Intro to Excel
Lab 1 (see schedule page)
© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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Where Do Spreadsheets Fit?
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Bit
Character, string and number
Field
Record
File
Database
© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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A Brief History of Spreadsheets
• The accountant’s ledger
• Dan Bricklin and Visicalc (1979)
• Mitch Kapor and Lotus 1-2-3
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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A Brief History of Spreadsheets
The accountant’s paper ledger
 big sheets of paper ("spread out the sheets"???)
 permits storing figures
Fig. 1.1, p. 2
of book
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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Dan Bricklin (1951- )
“Visicalc”
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1979
Visible calculator
Apple II
Pushed sales of
personal computers
© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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Mitch Kapor (1950- )
“Lotus 1-2-3”
• 1982
• Spreadsheets for
presentation too
• Wildly successful
http://www.nb-info.co.uk
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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Bill Gates & Microsoft
“Excel”
• 1985
• Originally written
for apple II
• 1987 shipped with
introduction of
windows
• Graphical interface
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
6
Intro. To Excel
• Spreadsheet (Excel calls it a "worksheet"
"workbook" is a collection of worksheets):
• Grid of rows (labeled alphabetically)
and columns (labeled numerically)
• Each "box" is called a cell
• Each cell is referred to by its cell reference
(aka cell address) which is the row letter
followed by the column number (e.g. B3)
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©©Jeff
Nyhoff
2002Linden
Brenda
Vander
5/29/201
6
Intro to Excel, Cont.
• Cells can contain constants (“literals”)
e.g. 1239 or hello
• BUT cells can also contain formulas
e.g. =(B3+C3)
• Thus, the electronic spreadsheet does the
paper version one better: it performs the
calculations!
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©©Jeff
Nyhoff
2002Linden
Brenda
Vander
5/29/201
6
Intro to Excel, Cont.
• Advantages:
– 1. Labor-saving
• Change all salaries for an company.
• Do this for 1000 or more employees!
– 2. Allows "what-if" analysis; can “play”
with the numbers…
– 3. Allows graphing and charting
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©©Jeff
Nyhoff
2002Linden
Brenda
Vander
5/29/201
6
TM & © 2002 Grimmy, Inc. Mike Peters
from http://www.grimmy.com (9/5/02)
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© Brenda Vander Linden
5/29/201
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