[davidpolberger]

I'm working on an engine for Excel-like formulas, which will be available both as a library and as a service (which I've mentioned on HN a few times before). I originally started work on the engine back in 2008, when our app builder needed it.

This is a wheel I see people reinventing all the time, often for use in SaaS applications. The implementations are often underwhelming: function support is limited, documentation is sparse to non-existent and errors are typically only communicated at runtime -- if at all. Formula editors usually lack autocomplete, making them frustrating to use.

I've spent years solving all these problems (with a statically-typed language), and I'd love for others to benefit from the work. I have extracted the formula engine from our app compiler, so the library is nearly complete. The runtime part (evaluating formulas) has been rewritten in TypeScript. Next, I'll build a service around it to validate, compile and evaluate formulas -- which should be fun.

I'm planning to do a Show HN once I have a preview up and running.

[junto]

Is this like gorules?

[davidpolberger]

No, not really. GoRules appears to be a decision engine that allows non-technical users to define rules visually through a graphical interface. Engineers can then interpret and evaluate these rules using provided libraries.

What I'm building is a formula engine that validates, compiles, and evaluates Excel-like formulas. Compared to GoRules, it’s more akin to the ZEN expression language component than to the broader GoRules system.

[davidpolberger]

Other apt comparisons to what I'm building include HyperFormula and Microsoft Power Fx.

[warpech]

As a HyperFormula founder, thank you for the mention. I wonder what’s your opinion on our formula library

[mceoin]

very cool