Gliders, Hasslers, and the Toadsucker: Writing and Explaining a Structured Excel Life Game

"Have we forgotten what's wrong with goto statements?" asked Andrew Koenig recently. Bradford Miller had a pithy reply: you need too many "thumbs" when reading code. Better to use a language with proper control structures, not bodge them from labels that will, for all a reader can tell, leave you leaping around your program like a flea on a dog full of coffee. This reminded me of spreadsheets, which unrestricted cell references can make just as unreadable. So I'm going to show how to write and document a spreadsheet in a high-level language I've implemented: Excelsior, which I've made available here. The spreadsheet runs Life; linking a clear English-and-equations account of Life with Excel's graphic appeal, it may interest school maths teachers, as well as those seeking to write and document safer spreadsheets.



March 12, 2009
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/gliders-hasslers-and-the-toadsucker-writ/228701046

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