I’m Building Excel in Vanilla JavaScript – From Scratch

About five years ago, while browsing the web, I stumbled upon an open-source project: someone had built a basic Excel-like spreadsheet using just JavaScript. At the time, I was both impressed and intimidated — it seemed incredibly complex.

Today, with over 7 years of experience behind my back, I’ve decided to take on the same challenge.

Not to copy someone else’s work.

But to create my own version of Excel — fully from scratch — as a way to push my boundaries and showcase my senior-level frontend skills.

Why JavaScript — Not TypeScript?

I use TypeScript daily and I love it. But this project will be pure JavaScript. Here’s why:

1. Back to the roots.

   I want to revisit and strengthen my deep JS fundamentals. No sugarcoating. Just raw logic.

2. Maximum control.

   In complex UI logic like spreadsheets (resizing cells, drag-and-drop, keyboard interactions), sometimes dynamic typing gives more flexibility.

3. Show what JavaScript alone can do.

   I want to demonstrate the full power of JS without relying on frameworks or typesystems.

This is not a toy project. I plan to make it feel smooth, efficient, and scalable — like a real product.

What I’m Building

Here are just some of the core features I’ll implement:

• Custom component architecture

• Internal event system

• Cell selection, resizing columns/rows

• Keyboard navigation (Arrow keys, Enter, Tab, etc.)

• Persistent styles & formulas

• Custom state manager (like mini Redux)

• Routing between pages (SPA style)

• Performance optimizations (debounce, throttling, rendering diff)

• Version control flow with Git, ESLint, Prettier, Husky

And everything will be built without any frontend framework. Just JavaScript.

Why This Project?

• To demonstrate my senior frontend skills through a real-world, complex, interactive app.

• To dive deep into core concepts like reactivity, DOM manipulation, architecture, and performance.

• To push myself to think like a framework creator, not just a framework user.

• To document and share my progress with the dev community.

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning.

In my upcoming blog posts, I’ll be sharing:

• Code breakdowns

• Challenges I face (and how I solve them)

• Design decisions

• Lessons learned

• Screenshots and feature walkthroughs

So if you’re curious about deep JavaScript or want to follow a fun journey — stay tuned!

Feel free to connect with me or follow my progress here or on LinkedIn.

Let’s see how far JavaScript can go 💪