cvillagrasa / engineeringobjects

Attempt to bridge the gap between a classical engineering workflow using spreadsheets and more modern approaches using Python

The following notebook defines a simple EngineeringObject class, which attempts to bridge the gap between a classical engineering workflow using spreadsheets and more modern approaches using Python.

Despite having many drawbacks, one of the advantages of the classical approach is that spreadsheets allow for easy formatting. Hence, they encourage to copy tables (either input data or results) directly to technical reports, which makes them convenient. This is a straightforward process which many engineers are currently used to. On the other hand, producing usable output from a Python script or notebook can seem difficult at first.

With the EngineeringObject class, enriched variables can be used to produce formatted output directly usable in technical reports.These variables include a value, a $\LaTeX$ name, the units in which the value is expressed and a description.

Therefore, Python, with all its benefits, can be more easily used for engineering calculations.

Made available under the Creative Commons license

More info on why Python is preferrable over classical spreadsheets for engineering:

https://mclare.blog/posts/why-structural-engineers-use-excel