Learn in the textbookOffice Tools and Software Packages
DefinitionSpreadsheet software (表計算ソフト) lets you put numbers and formulas into cells divided into rows and columns, and then totals, analyzes and charts the data automatically.
ExplanationA cell is named by its column letter and row number, such as B2, and writing that address in a formula makes the calculation use the value in that cell. An address that shifts by the distance a formula is copied is a relative reference (相対参照), one locked with $ so its column and row stay put is an absolute reference (絶対参照), and one with $ on only the column or only the row is a mixed reference (複合参照). IF takes a condition, a value for when it holds and a value for when it does not, and returns one of the two depending on whether the condition is true, while functions such as conditional count (条件付個数), which counts the cells meeting a condition, can also go into a formula.
AnalogyIt is like a household ledger on graph paper where the total recalculates itself every time you change a number.
Memory hookThe word "spreadsheet" comes from a large accounting sheet spread open across two facing pages.