Looking for suggestions on writing a spreadsheet type app

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Created 5d

Replies 2

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I’m retired programmer. I did most of my work in C. Did some C++. And Ruby is my favorite language. I did Macintosh development back in 1985 when the first Mac came out and have not done much UI coding since. I did mostly device drivers. I did a lot of Ruby on Rails work from 2007 to 2015.

I am considering writing a spreadsheet app. Some items I would like to implement is the ability for what is displayed to be more complex than what Numbers (for example) allows. I would also like to implement the concept of Units like the old HP calculators did. Ultimately I would like users to be able to create functions easily. If possible, I’m leaning towards using Ruby as the language that these functions could be written in but that is just an example.

It would be best to assume I’ve not done any macOS development since what little I have done is centuries old. What language would you suggest I use? Are there perhaps a few skeleton applications that I could start from? My main bewilderment is how to create a window, put elements in it, make the elements interactive, etc.

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Answer 1

Claude31 OP

5d

The UI part is essential. I remember in the old ages the Jazz spreadsheet on Mac was a complete mess, because it did not exploit the Mac UI capabilities. Where Excel did it excellently.

I understand it is for your personal use ? A full fledge spreadsheet is a huge endeavour. Beyond an individual capability (specially if you're a beginner on Mac development), unless you limit yourself very strictly (aka VisiCalc if you remember, plus some specific capabilities to handle functions you think of).

As for the language, I would suggest Swift.

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Answer 2

endecotp OP

4d

What language would you suggest I use?

Which of the following best describes you:

(a) I've been programming for decades, and now when I see a new language I quickly realise that it's mostly features that I've used before in other languages, maybe years ago, combined differently with ~~worse~~ different syntax.

(b) I've been programming in one language for decades, and whenever I'm forced to use a different language I work out how to write code in the style of my preferred language using the syntax of this new inferior language.

?

If your answer is nearer to (a), learn some Swift and SwiftUI.

If your answer is nearer to (b), look up what GUI toolkits Ruby has best bindings to (GTK? Qt?) and use that.

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