"Dirty cells" is a term used in the context of spreadsheet software, particularly when referring to changes made to cells. A dirty cell is a cell that has been modified and requires recalculation. This means that the cell's value has been changed, and the spreadsheet program needs to update any formulas or calculations that rely on that cell.
Here's a breakdown:
- When a cell is marked as "dirty," it indicates that its value has been edited.
- Spreadsheets use this concept to optimize performance. They only recalculate formulas that rely on dirty cells, instead of recalculating everything every time a change is made.
- The "dirty" status can also apply to rows, where a row is considered dirty if any cell within that row has been modified.
For example, in a spreadsheet with a formula calculating the sum of cells A1 and B1, if you change the value in cell A1, both A1 and the cell containing the sum will be marked as "dirty". When the spreadsheet recalculates, it will only update the sum cell, not every other cell in the sheet.
The concept of "dirty cells" is also used in other software contexts, like data grids and databases, where it refers to data that has been modified but not yet saved.
