Oxford, UK, Category Theory - a branch of mathematics has been used by a researcher Jocelyn Paine to set up a Web-based software library for Excel users.
It is very interesting to see the spreadsheet horror stories at this link that prompted Paine to create the robust modularized web based excel library.
Only time will tell how the experiment goes. It may be of value if each module comes up with clear documentation about who did it for what purpose and what errors have been rectified. May be a Wiki approach can help. Can this be a web service - just thinking aloud?
Anyway Paine has an (Dot) org site at http://www.spreadsheet-parts.org/
His before and after modularity cartoons also I liked. The quotes on why modularize are also of interest
My Book on Strategic Decision Making
Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi Navneet, and thanks for the mention. You talk about the need for clear documentation. The language I use for writing modules allows comments, and also a style of documentation known as literate programming. In this, we say that the first duty of a program is to explain its workings to readers. Its second duty is to compute. So clear exposition is primary. I have an index of examples where I've tried applying this to my modules.
Have a look also at my paper Spreadsheet Components For All. It describes exactly the kind of Web service you propose. And there's a demo of this for Google Spreadsheets at Spreadsheet Components, Google Spreadsheets, and Code Reuse. If you have a Google Docs account, you can try it for yourself, via the demo's Web form.
Regards, Jocelyn
P.S. Forgot to say that I have also experimented with a Wiki approach. I wrote that up at It Ain't What You View, But The Way That You View It: documenting spreadsheets with Excelsior, semantic wikis, and literate programming.
KnowledgeKafe.com is a world-class mediator connecting knowledge seekers with knowledge providers. We are actively involved in our efforts to make quality training courses and interesting events accessible and affordable for students and professionals in the region to enrol and attend.
Post a Comment