I remembered Alphasheets was acquired by Google a couple of years ago for doing similar thing (they programmed in Haskell which is really cool) https://medium.com/bloated-mvp/alphasheets-mvp-review-ec328e...
Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
71–80 of 221 posts
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#72I believe Google Sheets supports programmability using Javascript these days. Is your product fundamentally different? Thanks and all the best.
(co-founder of Neptyne here) With Google Sheets you get a flavor of JS called Apps Script, a flavor of JS with some limitations. Some ways in which our use of Python differ are: - run Python directly in the spreadsheet cells, not just as an "extension" - a full runtime in a Jupyter kernel, so you can import and use effectively any Python package, as long as it runs on Linux - an interactive REPL that gives you a nice…
First: congratulations. I love the premise.
You've hit the nail on the head: While Google Sheets supports Javascript, the integration feels clunky. You have to switch from the spreadsheet you're working on, to the Apps Script editor. This is awkward enough that I tend to avoid this functionality, even in use-cases where a few lines of Javascript code would probably save me time (vis-a-vis engaging in gymnastics in a bunch of spreadsheet rows/columns or a separate tab).
In comparison, Neptyne makes Python feel like a first-class citizen.
That said, you might want to consider slight changes to the UX so that users conditioned on Google Sheets/Excel's UX paradigms can use it with their "muscle memory." For example, when I select a cell and press the '=' key, I expect to be able to start typing in a formula. Both Google Sheets and Excel behave this way. In Neptyne, I had to double-click on the cell first. The closer the experience to the two "biggies", the easier it'll be to convince folks to switch.
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#73Very cool but what's to stop Microsoft from doing this in Excel and making it instantly integrated into the software that millions of us already use?
The not built here bias is very strong. It would almost certainly be cheaper to buy Neptyne than to rebuild.
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#74This looks very useful, I can see this being used in schools and universities for a plethora of studies.
However I am European in EU, and while your Privacy policy is eminently readable, I don't think it can be used in EU school settings as you do not specify who your 3rd party service providers ar, what their privacy policys are or where data is hosted (thank you for making it human non lawyer readable).
Schools/Universities in EU are not allowed to use services that are not hosted in EU.
Im not sure if you use Google Analytics but please know that the legality of using GA in EU has been questioned in both Netherlands and Ireland. I'm not up to speed on the proceedings but I believe the Netherlands found it to be in violation of GDPR since the data was not stored or processed in EU. EDIT: Add Austria, France, Italy, Denmark, and now Finland to the list...
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#75Looks cool! Since you mentioned all the magic happening in the backend, how does it run? How do you ensure I am not running malicious Python code, like infinite for loop or never-ending recursion? Also, disabling file or network IO?
Did you also explore running Python in the browser using wasm?
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#76Why choose this over pySpread? https://pyspread.gitlab.io
That looks useful. Of course, one big difference is Neptyne is "in the cloud" versus an app you have to do download.
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#77FYI There is PyXLL which is an add on for Microsoft excel that gives this functionality without a need to log into any thing.
PyXLL is great but installing on users machines can be difficult. The problem that VBA actually solves in my opinion is that it allows technicalish users to build software without any controls. Most enterprise companies lock down the dev experience so much it is impossible to do anything but in VBA you can have direct access to the kernel.
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#78How does it interact with libraries that need the file system? e.g. Can I use requests-cache?
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#79This is impressive. It seems like you really understand the requirements of the audience that uses spreadsheets AND data centric Python! The REPL, in particular, is a nice touch.
My biggest concern with a tool like this is that the power-iest power users who would love it tend to work at big enterprises where they're locked into productivity suite bundles with Microsoft or Google. Additionally, if you get traction, Google and Microsoft would be very likely to clone your features for Sheets and Excel.
Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python
#80Good opportunity to highlight Google "Apps Script" which is one of the most powerful but unknown tools in the web:
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/guides/sheets
Includes easy fetching: https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/url-fetc...
I suppose python could be better for this use case but javascript seems to work fine. And it's all built righ in to Google Sheets.