> I look forward to a better spreadsheet, but I don't think it will revolutionize programming.
If you look at the research papers they cite, its not so much that they are aiming at a better spreadsheet which will , as a side effect, revolutionize programming, but a better programming model than those currently deployed which will, as a side effect, revolutionize spreadsheets.
My initial post was highly skeptical, and I still think that there's an uphill battle here. But I think that they have a good foundation to build a tool that both eases and empowers "casual programming" (including the kind of things that would be done in spreadsheets and that people don't and won't think of as programming) and empowers professional programmers to focus on the hard part of professional programming.
That said, its far from the first improvement of this general description that's been tried -- even with a good foundation -- and while I think its by far the best foundation I've seen for it, most of the key application domain areas have "good enough" solutions that its going to be hard to get people out of. (I am increasingly convinced that the initial casual-programmer web app focus makes sense, though, because while there's lots of established incumbents in that space, there's no dominant player to displace, so while it will may take a lot of polish to get decent uptake there, its an easier fight than going straight for Excel out the gate, and better reach than focussing on pro programmers as the initial focal market.)
If you look at the research papers they cite, its not so much that they are aiming at a better spreadsheet which will , as a side effect, revolutionize programming, but a better programming model than those currently deployed which will, as a side effect, revolutionize spreadsheets.
My initial post was highly skeptical, and I still think that there's an uphill battle here. But I think that they have a good foundation to build a tool that both eases and empowers "casual programming" (including the kind of things that would be done in spreadsheets and that people don't and won't think of as programming) and empowers professional programmers to focus on the hard part of professional programming.
That said, its far from the first improvement of this general description that's been tried -- even with a good foundation -- and while I think its by far the best foundation I've seen for it, most of the key application domain areas have "good enough" solutions that its going to be hard to get people out of. (I am increasingly convinced that the initial casual-programmer web app focus makes sense, though, because while there's lots of established incumbents in that space, there's no dominant player to displace, so while it will may take a lot of polish to get decent uptake there, its an easier fight than going straight for Excel out the gate, and better reach than focussing on pro programmers as the initial focal market.)