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SpreadSheets as a Programming Paradigm

Spreadsheet tools can be viewed as programming environments for non-professional programmers. These so-called “end-user” programm ers vastly outnumber professional programmers. In fact, spreadsheets, when viewed as a programming language, are one of the largest programming languages and can be characterized as a particularly low-level one: there is no support for abstraction, testing, encapsulation, modular or structured programming. As a result, numerous studies have shown that existing spreadsheets contain errors at an alarmingly high rate. In fact, companies are being put at risk due to their failure to realise that the process of constructing spreadsheets requires the discipline of traditional programming. Spreadsheet applications are more vulnerable to poor design and to errors than conventional programs. This means that a greater degree of discipline is required in the process of spreadsheet development.