A1 = 20000
B1 = 5%
C1 = +A1*B1
Hmmm - A1 and B1 look OK for a 5% pay rise but what is all that in C1? That is a formula. Because text can also be stored in a cell, we need some way of telling the spreadsheet that we are entering a formula rather than a piece of text. That is what the plus (+) symbol is for. "+A1" means "take the number stored in cell A1."
The asterisk (*) means "multiply" (don't try using "x" - computers always use * for multiplication as an "x" could be confused with the algebraic "x" often used in formulae. "B1" means "Take the number stored in cell B1" so the formula reads in its entirety "Take the number in cell A1 and multiply it by the number stored in B1 and show the answer in cell C1." Phew! Sounds complicated but it really isn't.
Once we have a formula in place, we can keep changing the value in either A1 or B1 and the spreadsheet will automatically recalculate the sum for us.
OK - so we can process our words in a word processor and we can do our arithmetic using a spreadsheet. How about storing information? That is the job of the database.
Database
A database is a file or collection of files that stores information in such a way that a specific item of data can later be retrieved. This is different from a file storing words or a spreadsheet storing numbers and sums in that specific items of information (data) can be retrieved easily.
A simple example of a database would be to store the names and addresses of all your friends. When you wanted to send a Christmas card to a friend, you would retrieve your friends' address from the database.
Such related information (such as names and addresses) form what is known as a record and it is the processing and storing of records that a database handles. In true database parlance, a record is known as a row whilst a single item of data is known as a column. Hmm - we are back to rows and columns like in our spreadsheet.
