Development and evolution of software

Like hardware, computer software is constantly evolving. The following is an example of an electronic form, briefly explaining the evolution of the software development process.

Speaking of spreadsheets, what many people think of? The answer is office Excel. Office Excel has become the most commonly used Office tool software for enterprises or individuals, especially in the daily management of enterprises, statistics, is a large number of applications. So, have we ever wondered if the computer had such a spreadsheet when it was born in 1946? How did it come about, what was the original, what can be done?

When it comes to the history of spreadsheets, it may be hard to understand that, in the past years, there was no spreadsheet software, and if there was a need for that, you would have to rely on a clunky mainframe or computer to help, The work that can be done in a few minutes now takes several hours to complete.

The world's first electronic form--VisiCalc

 The first spreadsheet in the worldVisiCalc was created by Danbricklin and Bobfrankston in 1978 years, when personal computers were rarely used in office. Especially in our country, we only know that there is a mainframe computer, it is more unclear what it can do. As far as I know, the Vicicalc was run on AppleII computer. VisiCalc Fundamentally lays the groundwork for future spreadsheets. VisiCalc is the world's first spreadsheet software.

WhenIBM PC in 1981 year began to appear, the PC gained recognition status, visicorp immediately visicalc introduced into this new hardware system, sorcim is also followed by the release of supercalc . In the present standard, visicalc and supercalc is still very coarse. For example, when text is entered into a cell, it cannot exceed the range of cells, and a longer caption must be entered into more than one cell. Still, the ability to automatically calculate budgets can attract tens of thousands of accountants from paper-based classification tables to disk drives, which is the first stage of the spreadsheet's inception.

lotus 1-2-3. However speaking of this software, our vision still had to put abroad, looking at visicalc The success of the , a group of computer enthusiasts, deepened the concept of spreadsheets. by mitchkapor and jonathansachs led the development of new products, is our Lotus 1-2-3. At the time it was selling faster than the VisiCalc, though it could be very rudimentary and not the first software to provide the integrated functionality, although it looks from our perspective today, but it is the first successful one. Of course, there are a lot of winners, there will be many competitors, Lotus has spawned a number of clones, they provide the same service, cheaper prices, provide additional features. Finally, Lotus's development company is suing to safeguard its interests and succeed. From my personal point of view, the presence of clones is precisely the success of this software, because only good works, will cause a lot of people to imitate, go beyond, regardless of its historical status or the development of electronic forms, it is undoubtedly the leader of the spreadsheet.

However, every dynasty will have a time of defeat, from1983Years1Lotus 1-2-3, launched in the month, was successful in September, when Bill Gates convened Microsoft's top software expert to convene a 3-day brainstorming session at the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle. Gates announced that the purpose of the meeting was to launch the world's fastest spreadsheet software as soon as possible. 1987
The first Excel for Windows systems has also been generated (bundled directly with the Windows environment, with a version number of 2.0 in the Mac). Lotus1-2-3 has been slow to apply to Windows systems, and by 1988, Excel has sold more than 1-2-3, leaving Microsoft at the forefront of PC software vendors. The event led to the replacement of the Software kingdom's dominance, and Microsoft consolidated its strong competitor position and found the way to develop graphics software. The development of hardware and software is like people's left and right feet, must be driven by each other, alternating development. This isITThe law of the development of technology, at that time runlotus1-2-3Version of3Needs to be based on80826OfPCand minimum1MOfRAM(This is1989Year is still quite high), so the potential market demand is decreasing. to the1990Years5Month, Microsoft releasedWindows3.0, as you know, Microsoft has changed the way people use personal computers. For this change,LotusThe decision maker made a underestimate mistake, he doesn't think Microsoft is an important product,LotusThe company is slowing its firstWindowsThe development of spreadsheet programs until1991Years before the release forWindowsOf the。 The bad thing is that the product is not perfect. He didn't really use it completely.WindowsEnvironment, so many users have been disappointed. AfterLotusThe company is also constantly upgrading its version, but it seems to have missed the best stage of development,1994Mid-year,LotusAlso published forDOSOf theVersion4。 And at this pointWindowsOperating system has been widely used, this became alotus1-2-3Last oneDOSversion, it also completed the historical mission of the spreadsheet at this stage, handing the baton to the next leader, Microsoft. The law of history tells us that time is the best referee.1995Mid-year,IBMBuy theLotusDevelopment company. Then on this basis the2Upgrade has missed the best time. At this timeExcelObviously already occupy the spreadsheet market, which has been considered the best in the presentWindowsspreadsheets, which were unstoppable to becomeWindowsThe spreadsheet market leader and letlotus1-2-3Never lost its place. This should be the choice of history. Perhaps you think that Microsoft's success is very easy, then you are wrong, the development of computer software is tortuous, not to be dominated by the social influence of today's Microsoft Company your judgment.982Microsoft publishes its first spreadsheetMultiplan。 In some ways, today's MicrosoftExcelis fromMultiplanDeveloped, in1985Years inmacshThe introduction. Just like all theMacProgram,Excelis a graphical interface of the program.1987Years OneMonth, Microsoft released its firstExcelOfWindowsVersion (namedExcel2.0to themacshVersion is consistent). Because at that timeWindowsis not yet widely used, this version also includes aWindowsRuntime version-one that can only runExcelAnd not be able to do other things special version. In less than a year, Microsoft releasedExcel2.1Andexcel2.1dto compatibleWindows3.0。 Although these2.xThe versions are not mature compared to the current standard, and they do not have the attractive appearance of the present version, but they still attract a small number of loyal supporters, which provides a solid foundation for future development. to the1990Years9Month, Microsoft also releasedWindowsOfExcel3, this version has a great improvement in interface and functionality. AfterExcel4、5They are excellent at working with any spreadsheet, and laterExcel95(i.e.Excel7) andMicrosoft Windows95Also released (Microsoft skipped the version6, in order to letOfficeConsistent with each version of the product).1997At the beginning of the year, Microsoft releasedOffice97, which includesExcel97。Excel97That isExcel8。 This includes a number of enhancements and providesVBAA completely new interface for program development.Excel2000In1999The end of the release, asOffice2000Part of the sale.excel2000 in the enhanced features mainly in the Internet, There is also a significant change in programming. Posted in excel2003 is the largest number of users in China, so far, thanks to the long-time use of the habit, is still the preferred Chinese user Span lang= "en-us" xml:lang= "en-US" >excel version with a broad user base. But in foreign customers ' view, excel2003 is probably the most disappointing update. There are no new features in this version. Microsoft joined the import export xml Files and mapping data to a specific cell in a worksheet, but few users actually need this functionality. In addition, Microsoft has introduced a "Rights management" feature that allows you to set restrictions in different parts of the workbook (for example, to allow only designated users to view specific worksheets), although many users have not yet discovered the mystery and purpose of this feature, but after all, it is excel an important step out of the version upgrade.

Today there are many Chinese users are not too accustomed to Excel , the user interface, familiar with the 2003 users often can not find familiar features and menus and distressed, they need a long time to familiarize themselves with the new operating interface. But Excel2007 is easy for beginners, and it's part of Microsoft's officesystem . This upgrade is obviously the most important one. The user interface is completely redesigned. The menus and toolbars are replaced by the new Ribbonui . the number of cells in the Excel2007 is more than one of the previous versions , using a new open XML file format. Other improvements include improved tables, enhanced conditional formatting, enhanced chart style, and document themes.

The latest release of Excel is Microsoft's new version of the product, currently in the domestic number of users is not too much, it contains sparklines and new slicing and dicing features. As with the previous version,one of the most important improvements inExcel2010 is the support for Web features that allow users to create, edit, and save Excel files directly from their browser. And sharing these files through the browser.

With the development of the Internet, the single use of the spreadsheet software, document-level links have been far from meeting the network era of customer and enterprise management information needs. 2003 , the concept of the spreadsheet server was first put forward by the Qin Zhe software, and developed the world's first spreadsheet server-Qin zhe Excel Server software. The invention of the spreadsheet server has opened up a new software classification, and has greatly expanded the application field of the spreadsheet, and provided a new and effective solution for the difficulties of many enterprises ' information management, and has now developed into a very promising emerging software market. Happily, the invention of the spreadsheet server was done by the Chinese, and she was the world's first truly spreadsheet server software. Our country still has the very important status in the history of the computer. Spreadsheet development to now, can be said to gather countless people's toil, wisdom, sweat, they compete with each other, progress. However, from the elaboration of my whole article, we are not difficult to see the speed of computer development, so there is life tension, the fittest in here all the incisively and vividly. Let us understand, only continuous learning, enterprising upward, can not be eliminated, always charge themselves.

Development and evolution of software