A spreadsheet is a list with columns
Open a spreadsheet without dread, and put a three-column list into one.
A spreadsheet is a sheet of squared paper with the squares already ruled. You type things into the squares. Nothing else is happening.
Key points
- Say what a spreadsheet is in one sentence: a list with columns.
- Put headings across the top and one thing per line underneath.
- Find any box on the grid from its letter and its number.
What to remember
- When somebody says the word spreadsheet, what happens?
- The top row is for headings. Everything underneath is one thing per line.
- A letter and a number is an address, and nothing else. C3 is a place, the way Bell Lane is a place.
Try this
Open a spreadsheet on your own machine — it may be called Excel, Numbers, Sheets or Calc — and type three headings across the top: Date, What it was, Amount. Then close it without saving. The point is only to have opened one and typed in it.
Practice: A spreadsheet is a list with columns. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.