In computing, a program that mimics a sheet
of ruled paper, divided into columns and
rows. The user enters values in the sheet,
then instructs the program to perform some
operation on them, such as totalling a column
or finding the average of a series of
numbers. Highly complex numerical analyses
may be built up from these simple steps.
Spreadsheets are widely used in business for
forecasting and financial control. The first
spreadsheet program, VisiCalc, appeared 1979.