Synthesizing programs in a spreadsheet programming language

A computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the program instructions executable to:

• receive a first example comprising first user input provided in a target cell in a target spreadsheet;
• automatically synthesize a candidate program consistent with the first example, wherein the candidate program comprises at least one program idiom of a plurality of program idioms, the plurality of program idioms having been identified based on analyzing a corpus of spreadsheets, and each program idiom of the plurality of program idioms comprising a predefined grouping of a plurality of functions in a spreadsheet programming language that is implemented by a spreadsheet application;
• and
• store the candidate program in association with the target cell in the target spreadsheet.

A system comprising:

• a processor, a computer-readable memory, one or more computer-readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the program instructions executable to:
• receive a first example comprising first user input provided in a target cell in a target spreadsheet;
• automatically synthesize a candidate program consistent with the first example, wherein the candidate program comprises at least one program idiom of a plurality of program idioms, the plurality of program idioms having been identified based on analyzing a corpus of spreadsheets, and each program idiom of the plurality of program idioms comprising a predefined grouping of a plurality of functions in a spreadsheet programming language that is implemented by a spreadsheet application;
• and
• store the candidate program in association with the target cell in the target spreadsheet.