  The spreadsheet paradigm has some unique risks and challenges that are not
present in more traditional development technologies. Many of the recent
advances in other branches of software development have bypassed spreadsheets
and spreadsheet developers. This paper compares spreadsheets and spreadsheet
development to more traditional platforms such as databases and procedural
languages. It also considers the fundamental danger introduced in the
transition from paper spreadsheets to electronic. Suggestions are made to
manage the risks and work around the limitations.
