News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by wslh on Saturday November 09, 2024 @02:38PM (#42096403)
Thanks for your great work! I’d love to hear your thoughts on a recent “brainstorm” a few of us had here on HN about spreadsheets. How does this resonate with you? [1][2]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42027356

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41970554

Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by nhatcher on Saturday November 09, 2024 @03:30PM (#42096687)
Hi wsih, thanks! There is a lot to unpack on those threads but of the top of my head: 1. Clear separation between UX/backend Done by design in IronCalc. It is first a spreadsheet engine.

2. Multi language support, language connectivity, enhanced data types, ...

You might very well be right, but out first step is to be as close to Excel as possible. We are ~ 1 year away from being formula compatible in a reasonable way. Once we are there we can do better in different directions. I think strict typing might be very beneficial for spreadsheets engines. Anything you can do to reduce errors and human mistakes.

I strongly believe that having a competitive spreadsheet engine fully open source might be a good first step in extending and improving Excel.

Let's see!

Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by wslh on Saturday November 09, 2024 @05:03PM (#42097183)
I am sure you are in the right track! It would also be great to know if you have some kind of business model on mind.
Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by nhatcher on Saturday November 09, 2024 @05:24PM (#42097295)
Noup. I'm not doing this for money. Not saying there is not a business angle, and happy to help anyone that wants to build a business using IronCalc.
Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by enugu on Sunday November 10, 2024 @01:07AM (#42098759)
Hyperfiddle and Quadratic implement some of the items on your wishlist (richer data types, modern programming languages, working with arrays, better connectivity to data tools).
Re:IronCalc – Open-Source Spreadsheet Engine by nhatcher on Sunday November 10, 2024 @05:51AM (#42099536)
They are both amazing tools!