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TurboExcel lets you use Excel to code in C++

Simply design your algorithm in an Excel spreadsheet, push a button, and TurboExcel will instantly convert your spreadsheet into a C++ subroutine that’s error free and immediately usable. No more debugging. No more testing.

Prototype to production at the push of a button

TurboExcel delivers dramatic productivity gains. How? To start with, prototyping in Excel is usually far faster than anything else in your toolbox. And with TurboExcel, once it’s set up, you’re done. Think about it: right now, you might prototype in Excel, and then you start coding. With TurboExcel, you skip the coding, skip the debugging, and skip the testing. All you do is prototype in Excel, push a button and your perfect, ready to use C++ subroutine is automatically generated. Which translates into much more productive days, and nights spent at home for a change.

Excel is a powerful programming tool

Think Excel’s a toy? Think again. With over 300 built-in functions, Excel puts most toolboxes to shame. TurboExcel has converted all of these built-in functions to C++ subroutines, making them all available to be called by any program. And since TurboExcel even converts spreadsheets that contain user-defined addin functions, the possibilities are limitless, giving everyone the ability to write structured programs out of small, easily maintained spreadsheet components. TurboExcel even lets you create Web services out of the box.

Write structured programs with Excel

Once TurboExcel converts the spreadsheet, it compiles the generated C++ code into both DLLs and Excel addins. And since TurboExcel also converts spreadsheets that themselves contain addin functions, it’s simple to implement structured coding techniques in Excel. For example, write a simple spreadsheet to compute the present value of a dollar. Then, use the newly created function in another spreadsheet to sum up the present value of a stream of $100 annual interest payments for the next ten years, and turn this into another function. (Then, use the newly created cashflow function to price a portfolio of 30 streams of interest payments.) And on and on.

Granted, there are some things that aren’t easy to do in a spreadsheet. Looping, for example. But TurboExcel has you covered there, too: write the loop in VBA, calling into a TurboExcel generated function. And then have TurboExcel convert the VBA to C++ code. Virtually any calculation engine that can be written in C++ (or any other language) can be created with Excel and TurboExcel. Only faster. There are plenty of visual tools out there that remove the drudgery of programming user interfaces. Now there’s finally a visual tool for programming calculation logic: TurboExcel.

TurboExcel turns Excel into a real visual programming language

TurboExcel makes even veteran C++ programmers more productive. Not just because they won’t have to debug or test but because TurboExcel turns Excel into a real visual programming language, unlike C++ (or Visual Basic, for that matter). Think about how code gets written in a procedural language: A has to come before B which has to come before C. Everything must be specified, step by step. Excel, on the other hand, is like a free-form tool: lay out your logic anywhere, and the inherent relationships among the variables is automatically, and naturally defined. Excel is the ultimate environment, since you get to see the formulas, as well as the results of the formulas, all along the way. Errors are found and fixed much faster. Projects shrink from weeks to days, and hours to minutes.

TurboExcel's Breakthrough Patent-Pending Technology Makes Excel Run 300 Times Faster

TurboExcel uses a patent-pending software technology to speed up Excel spreadsheets, allowing them to run up to 300 times faster. "Coffee break" spreadsheets, those taking several minutes to calculate, can now run in the blink of an eye. Very large "overnight" spreadsheets taking eight hours can now run in a mere minute and a half. That's an astonishing 300 times faster. With TurboExcel, spreadsheet users finally get to leave work on time.

The Secret To TurboExcel's Speed

TurboExcel completely takes advantage of the fact that programming code runs much faster than spreadsheet code. TurboExcel's patent-pending technology actually converts Excel spreadsheet formulas into C++ programming code, and then compiles it into binary code (0's and 1's).

Whenever Excel performs a calculation, it must trade off between speed and flexibility. Every time the user hits F9 to recalculate, Excel needs to convert every cell in the spreadsheet into the binary 0's and 1's that the computer understands, as well as determine the right order to calculate the cells, and how to format them. TurboExcel isn't hampered by any of that. TurboExcel directly generates binary code, so when the calculations are performed there's no overhead. This makes Excel run up to 300 times faster.

Essentially, TurboExcel is a programmer, but far better because TurboExcel can code much faster, much cheaper, and, best of all, with no errors or bugs. The implications of this are far-reaching: TurboExcel technology empowers spreadsheet users who have no programming knowledge with the ability to program in C++. Excel is their interface for programming in C++.

Migrate Spreadsheets From Excel To Other Systems 500 Times Faster

TurboExcel's powerful technology allows you to move your spreadsheets over to front-, middle,- and back-office systems in record time: Weeks of work can now be done in minutes resulting in spreadsheet integrations that are 500 times faster.

How is this possible? Since TurboExcel automatically reprograms the Excel spreadsheet in C++, a huge part of the work that's normally involved in Excel migrations is already done for you. Because the programmer no longer has to reprogram the spreadsheet, he doesn't have to go through the process of learning and understanding the logic behind it, saving both his time and, perhaps more importantly, the Excel user's time. And, because the spreadsheet has now been reprogrammed by a machine, not by a person, it doesn't need to undergo the extensive testing and bug fixing that's normally involved to make sure that final values from the spreadsheet's new program match those of the original spreadsheet. All of these steps save a great deal of valuable time and result in Excel migrations that take minutes, not weeks or months. And, as powerful as it is, TurboExcel is also one of the simplest programs you'll ever use. Simply load up your spreadsheet, and push a button to make the magic happen.

And TurboExcel will work with any Excel spreadsheet, even if you use Excel's built-in functions, the Analysis Toolpak, VBA or even add-in functions from third-party vendors.

The TurboExcel Paradigm

TurboExcel works on calculations: numbers go in, and valuations come out. It's what you use Excel for: to figure out the fair value of an investment, or the expected profits for a firm, or the amount of money you need to put away to retire, or the cash flows on a portfolio, or any of a million other things. In every case, there's a set of inputs that drive the calculation, and an output that you're interested in arriving at.

TurboExcel takes a spreadsheet you've built, and after being told which cells hold the inputs and outputs, it takes all the calculations in between the inputs and the outputs and turns them into a new program. It doesn't throw away your spreadsheet, it just makes a new copy of the model in C++, and then compiles it into binary code. This code can work inside Excel, as an AddIn function, or outside Excel, to be called from C, C++, Visual Basic or any other high level programming language.

How fast is the binary code? Lightning fast. As fast as if someone had manually rewritten the spreadsheet formulas in C++. Because that's exactly what TurboExcel has done.

Since the binary code can be used as an Excel add-in function, you're now free to use it in your spreadsheet, replacing the output cells with a single formula using the newly created function, and getting rid of all the other cells.

The binary code created by TurboExcel is a file that the computer knows how to read, but not people. This means that modelers can distribute the binary code, instead of the spreadsheet, to other users, without worrying about the recipients inadvertently breaking the spreadsheet by adding rows or columns without fully understanding the implications. In addition, proprietary algorithms can now be kept from prying eyes, allowing for safer and wider distribution of intellectual property.

Put another way, TurboExcel takes a spreadsheet model like this:

and turns it into this:

With TurboExcel, the mortgage IRR methodology is hidden from view. Even when the cursor goes over the IRR cell, the methodology does not get revealed.

However, TurboExcel functions are not limited to calculating just a single value. They can accommodate a range of outputs as well. For example, you can use TurboExcel to encapsulate the logic behind mortgage-backed security cashflow calculations into a TurboExcel array function that can be used over and over again. In this example, the new function returns two columns: the date of the cash flow, and the total cash flow from principal and interest:

This is a very useful function to have around and give to others. It doesn't shrink the spreadsheet as much as a function that has only one output, like IRR. But it's still much easier to work with, and doesn't require copying and pasting all the formulas everywhere you want to use it, being forced to remember about absolute and relative references, and all the other dangers of copying a block of formulas from one spreadsheet to another.

But TurboExcel also has another powerful trick. For example, take the following portfolio of three mortgage bonds. The portfolio is specified in B6:F8, with one row per bond, and columns to specify the necessary information about each bond. This information is referenced lower down in the spreadsheet, and the new cash flow function is used to easily generate the cash flows on each security in the portfolio:

There is one input area, B6:F8, which is a range. The cash flows for each bond are calculated, and off to the right, we add up the cash flows to get the total cash flows on the portfolio.

Now for the trick: we can use TurboExcel again, where the spreadsheet includes the cash flow function TurboExcel just created, to get another new function for the cash flows on a portfolio in one fell swoop:

This is one of TurboExcel's most powerful features: the ability to turn spreadsheets into C++ functions, and then, using those functions in a spreadsheet, convert the spreadsheet again. This gives you the power of structured C++ programming without the pain.

TurboExcel allows Excel spreadsheet users to be C++ programmers without any knowledge of C++. This has powerful implications. Traders, researchers, and risk managers who must currently wait for IT resources to put their models into production can now at last be in control of their own destiny. They can now produce C++ programs that their front-, middle-, and back-office systems can understand using only the Excel spreadsheet. Whats more, they can do it faster, more efficiently, and error-free. TurboExcel marks a major advancement in the development of Excel technology