Today, I found this journal article, The role of OR [Operations Research] specialists in ‘do it yourself’ spreadsheet development, from the European Journal of Operational Research, by John S Edwards, Paul N Finlay, John M Wilson. The article outlines 20 Guidelines for Spreadsheet Development and 21 Best Practices Points, which I excerpt below.
Guidelines for Spreadsheet Development
Guidelines for Spreadsheet Development
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| Fig. 2. Guidelines for spreadsheet development. |
Best Practices for Spreadsheet Development
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| Fig. 3. Best Practices Points. |
My favorite point is #14 from the list of Best Practices:
Never input the same piece of data more than once.
This rule reminds me of the 17th rule of composition from the Elements of Style: "Omit needless words." Perhaps Best Practice-point #14 can be rewritten as "Omit needless data."
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Figure 2 and Figure 3, from John S Edwards, Paul N Finlay, John M Wilson, The role of OR specialists in ‘do it yourself’ spreadsheet development, European Journal of Operational Research, Volume 127, Issue 1, 16 November 2000, Pages 14-27, ISSN 0377-2217, 10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00331-8.
