Prerequisites
To work with AppSheet, it is helpful if you are familiar with spreadsheets such as Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel; AppSheet uses its own expressions but most of them are identical to Google Sheet formulas. The syntax can sometimes be slightly different, but the idea is mostly the same. Also, having an understanding of the basic concepts of how spreadsheets work will help you to build your app’s foundation. However, don’t worry if you are not familiar with Google Sheets – you will get to know it in the following chapters. In fact, there are a number of AppSheet expressions that are unique to AppSheet and not found in other spreadsheet services. We will cover AppSheet expressions throughout this book, especially in Chapter 4, Manipulate Data with Expressions and Formulas.
In addition to familiarity with spreadsheets and formulae, it is helpful if you know a thing or two about databases. AppSheet is a database-driven platform; the concept of the relational database is one of the basic foundations of AppSheet. However, this is not absolutely required, as you learn what you need to know while learning AppSheet.
