I've never used a spreadsheet...

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: eLiu

Originally posted by: ironwing
Yes, it is weird. Have you no data to organize or crunch? Heck, you can even do finite difference modeling on a spreadsheet.

Finite differences on a spreadsheet? You're funny. I'd like to see the spreadsheet that can handle poisson's equation for say an arbitrary 4-sided (straight sides) domain in 2d. I'd also like to see said spreadsheet that is extensible (i.e. not a PITA to increase the number of points). Or the spreadsheet that could solve the time-dependent problem explicitly (not to mention implicitly).

Solving PDEs/ODEs isn't what you'd want to use a spreadsheet for (though low order ODEs would be reasonably easy). This is the domain of MATLAB for simple things & real programming languages like C/C++ or Fortran for complex systems.

OP: I'm not sure how you made it so far in life w/o using spreadsheets... a lot of 'data taking' software (like labview) for windows produce spreadsheets (and once it's there you might as well use excel?). And plenty of people I've worked with over the years prefer to do things with spreadsheets. They're pretty common in my experience even if they aren't the best tool for the job.

Short answer:
Here ya go.

Longer response:
I didn't say spreadsheets were the optimal way to run finite difference models, only that it can be done and could be done on PC XT & AT machines using DOS-based spreadsheets and was done on such primitive hardware. Hell, the first groundwater models were built by hand. It isn't that hard to build a finite difference model on a spreadsheet, it is just slow and not even that slow with modern hardware.

PS: LabView is god's own programming language. The one thing I miss about grad school is that I don't get to play w/ LabView anymore.

 

[alrocky]

Never had Sex before

For a moment I thought you might be the same OP that started the above thread. But no you only posted in it.