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Spreadsheets are all you need

spreadsheets-are-all-you-need.ai

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Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#91
post #71
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out "Google AppSheets". I've only scratched the surface while investigating other stuff but it's basically "drag-and-drop mobile GUI builder w/ sheets as a backend". If it were 2005 it would SLAY so much code. As it is, it seems really useful but the outcome seems a bit generic for modern tastes.

This seems quite hidden. Googling "google appsheets" results in "did you mean 'google sheets'?" and showing only results for google sheets unless you specifically then request AppSheets. It sounds cool, but I'd hate to rely on it since Google will probably shut it down.

Seems to be because the actual name is AppSheet and not "Google AppSheet" (even though it is mentioned in this way on their website in some places).

Requesting just "AppSheet" gives the right result.

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#92
post #35
post #2

Brilliant idea/URL. It’s often true though. So many things I think “I could make an app for that” I wind up just using a spreadsheet for. At least it helps me explore the use cases more deeply for when I’d want to actually take it to the next level. I hung out with a friend while they solved Advent of Code challenges in Excel, that was a trip to watch.

One of my biggest weakness as a developer is that I can barely use excel. It's really embarrassing, especially since I've moved to a financial firm. Do you have any recommendations for becoming semi competent with it?

For a best practices introduction I would recommend a course geared toward investment bankers. Some things that should be covered are:

* Avoiding hardcoding numbers, making input cells a certain color, etc.

* Knowing the all powerful F4 key that alternates between A1, $A$1, $A1, and A$1 (and knowing what each of these mean)

* Inserting blank lines above and below a summed range and including those rows inside of the sum formula (prevents formula from breaking if you move rows around)

Other than that you can do a lot of productive things with a combination of index/match and dynamic named ranges via offset formula.

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#94
post #75

I occasionally need to loan people money, and usually they need to pay me back in multiple payments, sometimes over several months. Being a proper geek, my first inclination was to build a web app to keep track of that and so the people I am loaning cash to can also view their balance, but I realized that would involve maintaining state and login creds and a bunch of other variables I haven’t even considered, and mai…

How do you deal with people who don't pay back in time or ever? What's your favourite tool for dealing with such situations?

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#95
post #75

I occasionally need to loan people money, and usually they need to pay me back in multiple payments, sometimes over several months. Being a proper geek, my first inclination was to build a web app to keep track of that and so the people I am loaning cash to can also view their balance, but I realized that would involve maintaining state and login creds and a bunch of other variables I haven’t even considered, and mai…

[deleted]

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#96
post #35
post #2

Brilliant idea/URL. It’s often true though. So many things I think “I could make an app for that” I wind up just using a spreadsheet for. At least it helps me explore the use cases more deeply for when I’d want to actually take it to the next level. I hung out with a friend while they solved Advent of Code challenges in Excel, that was a trip to watch.

One of my biggest weakness as a developer is that I can barely use excel. It's really embarrassing, especially since I've moved to a financial firm. Do you have any recommendations for becoming semi competent with it?

All the spreadsheets have map/reduce stuff! It's the programming you are used to but you type into a box and reference variables by sheet location instead of by name.

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#98
post #75

I occasionally need to loan people money, and usually they need to pay me back in multiple payments, sometimes over several months. Being a proper geek, my first inclination was to build a web app to keep track of that and so the people I am loaning cash to can also view their balance, but I realized that would involve maintaining state and login creds and a bunch of other variables I haven’t even considered, and mai…

Well said. This can go even further by defining JavaScript code as functions in a sheet. For example, if someone pays you back, you click a checkbox in the corresponding cell, and it runs your code to send them a thank you email.

Re: Spreadsheets are all you need

#100
post #75

I occasionally need to loan people money, and usually they need to pay me back in multiple payments, sometimes over several months. Being a proper geek, my first inclination was to build a web app to keep track of that and so the people I am loaning cash to can also view their balance, but I realized that would involve maintaining state and login creds and a bunch of other variables I haven’t even considered, and mai…

Its not an unpaid job. Presumably you are charging interest. You just dont have the scale of a bank to make money changing anything close to market rates.

These are family members and/or in-laws, I'm not charging interest to them, so if you count inflation it's actually costing me money.

So it would absolutely be a second unpaid job, but I'll admit that I didn't specify why.

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