Excel combines database principles of keyed list values with the non-database principle of locational calculation and canvas page layout.
This advantage shows when using Excel positionally rather than as a simple data table system. For example, =B7*C6 is virtually impossible to express in SQL, and constructing positional lookups using concepts such as “the previous row” or “the next column” are virtually impossible - yet, easy in Excel:
INDIRECT(ADDRESS(1+ROW(H229),COLUMN(H229),3)
Excel’s ability to write non-tabular data and calculations alongside tabular data, without needing to split it onto another tab/pane/page, is another critical benefit that databases cannot match. While they have stored procedures and linked functions, they have no concept of “positional” with which to model the theory of canvas that underlies Excel.
Finally, due to being a canvas model with calculation functionality, Excel meets the basic needs of a page layout and data graphing engine, with the ability to configure and position reporting in various UX ways that are considered out of scope for nearly all databases. HyperCard, FrameMaker, MS Access all clearly understand this issue and work to solve it in various respects.
So while the written definition of spreadsheet may seem to be encompassed by the word “database”, that is true only if the word “database” encompasses canvases that store both tabular data and other content, and not just key-value data (such as a MongoDB or anything SQL).
If you want to break into the Excel market, you won’t do it with a database alone. You’ll need canvas UX to even begin to be relevant, a point many startups discover the hard way.
This advantage shows when using Excel positionally rather than as a simple data table system. For example, =B7*C6 is virtually impossible to express in SQL, and constructing positional lookups using concepts such as “the previous row” or “the next column” are virtually impossible - yet, easy in Excel:
INDIRECT(ADDRESS(1+ROW(H229),COLUMN(H229),3)
Excel’s ability to write non-tabular data and calculations alongside tabular data, without needing to split it onto another tab/pane/page, is another critical benefit that databases cannot match. While they have stored procedures and linked functions, they have no concept of “positional” with which to model the theory of canvas that underlies Excel.
Finally, due to being a canvas model with calculation functionality, Excel meets the basic needs of a page layout and data graphing engine, with the ability to configure and position reporting in various UX ways that are considered out of scope for nearly all databases. HyperCard, FrameMaker, MS Access all clearly understand this issue and work to solve it in various respects.
So while the written definition of spreadsheet may seem to be encompassed by the word “database”, that is true only if the word “database” encompasses canvases that store both tabular data and other content, and not just key-value data (such as a MongoDB or anything SQL).
If you want to break into the Excel market, you won’t do it with a database alone. You’ll need canvas UX to even begin to be relevant, a point many startups discover the hard way.