Why Databases look like Excel Spreadsheets

Ever wondered why databases are set up like spreadsheets with rows and columns?

Here’s an interesting story: the origins of modern-databases are tied to accounting.

When computers were first invented, the first programs were used for—guess what?

Accounting! Back in the day, bookkeepers were already working with rows and columns on paper

sheets to track finances.

Sound familiar?

Fast forward to today, and we see the same pattern repeating with new technologies. Think about it:

• When the internet emerged, what was one of the first things people built?
• Online banking and payment systems.
• When blockchain came around, what took off first? Cryptocurrency.

Financial systems were the early adopters of new tech because money can’t afford mistakes.

That’s why relational databases store data in rows and columns

—they’re basically the digital version of old-school accounting ledgers. In fact,

accountants from the 1960s would feel right at home looking at a modern database table.

Relational databases didn’t come out of nowhere—they reflect centuries of tried-and-true methods for tracking money.