[HN Gopher] Show HN: Quadratic - native JavaScript support in a ...
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       Show HN: Quadratic - native JavaScript support in a spreadsheet
        
       We built JavaScript natively into a spreadsheet as a cell language.
       Use JS to analyze and work with data in a high-performance
       spreadsheet built on Rust and WASM. Quadratic also supports SQL,
       Python, and formulas.  The goal with Quadratic is to build a
       modern, high-performance, source-available spreadsheet for
       everyone. From technical developers to users who have never written
       code.  Sharing our JS launch with everyone today to see what you
       build in Quadratic.
        
       Author : Manchego79
       Score  : 58 points
       Date   : 2024-09-27 15:24 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.quadratichq.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.quadratichq.com)
        
       | dest wrote:
       | Interesting product. We would use that as a backoffice that would
       | be self hosted, fetching from and pushing to backend APIs. Is
       | that use case on your roadmap?
       | 
       | Basically an alternative to Google sheet with JS macros in it.
       | Gsheet is no good for us because we have data protection
       | requirements.
        
         | Manchego79 wrote:
         | Yep, we're currently rolling out pilots for self-hosting. If
         | you're interested, feel free to reach out via the contact page
         | on our website.
        
       | cloudking wrote:
       | How does your product differentiate from Google Apps Script? I
       | see you can execute JS within a cell, but why is that a better UX
       | than keeping the code separated like Apps Script does?
        
         | Manchego79 wrote:
         | Quadratic is built for doing analytics, and a native JavaScript
         | experience where you're in the weeds with the data just felt
         | better. We wanted JavaScript to be a first-class citizen in the
         | spreadsheet, as formulas are treated first-class in most
         | spreadsheets.
         | 
         | When they're separated, the experience feels bolted on (to us).
         | Being native means supporting existing libraries like Fetch for
         | APIs, chart.js for charts, brain.js for ML, etc., not to
         | mention performance!
        
       | Onavo wrote:
       | Note that they have a GitHub but they are not open source.
        
         | Manchego79 wrote:
         | Correct, our license is Source Available to be as open as
         | possible while reserving commercial rights, which we believe
         | will ultimately enable us to build the best product for users.
        
       | sahmeepee wrote:
       | Datat visualizations?
        
         | Manchego79 wrote:
         | For visualizations, we support Chart.js. You can also use our
         | built-in AI to help write the code.
        
           | sahmeepee wrote:
           | I'm referring to the typo in your very first heading, unless
           | datat visualisations is a term I don't know.
        
             | Manchego79 wrote:
             | Thanks for the heads-up on that.
        
       | fshafique wrote:
       | It's like taking the data-science notebook model (eg. Jupyter
       | Notebook) and using spreadsheets instead.
        
         | freshlentils wrote:
         | yeah - seems like in enterprises ppl still want spreadsheets,
         | but more and more people also want code, spreadsheets + code
        
       | fermuch wrote:
       | I've tried to use `fetch()` and it works. How did you handle that
       | from WASM? Or is it cached?
        
       | mpweiher wrote:
       | See _The Analytic Spreadsheet_ from 1986.
       | 
       | https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/28697.28737
        
       | pmarreck wrote:
       | That's a neat idea. How did you lock down security?
        
         | Manchego79 wrote:
         | Is there anything specifically about security you're curious
         | about?
         | 
         | We're also offering a self-hosted version you can deploy on
         | your own cloud, env., or Docker container.
        
       | mattlondon wrote:
       | Genuine question: How is this different from Google sheets? I
       | don't see much here that I've not already been doing for years in
       | Google sheets (except native python I guess - JS, SQL, fetch()
       | etc has otherwise been there for ages and it's all free)
       | 
       | Also the logo looks a lot like Microsoft? I am not colourblind
       | but it might look even more similar if you are?
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-27 23:00 UTC)