Turning Excel Spreadsheets into Code Arrays
What this converter does
Excel stores data in rows and columns, while most programming languages consume that same data as arrays. This tool reads the workbook you open (XLSX, XLS, CSV, or ODS, up to 10 MB), parses its sheets, and rewrites the cell grid as ready-to-paste array literals for the language you pick: JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, PHP, Go, Ruby, or Rust. You can output either a two-dimensional array that mirrors the raw grid, or an array of objects that uses the header row as keys.
Because the output is generated from the actual sheet structure rather than a fixed template, whatever columns and rows the file contains are what you get back in code.
When to use it
Reach for it whenever you need spreadsheet data baked into code rather than loaded at runtime: seed data for tests, a lookup table, fixtures, a hard-coded config, or a quick mock for a prototype. It saves writing a parser or hand-typing dozens of rows. An analyst who keeps reference data in Excel can hand a developer a paste-ready literal, and the developer can pull a client's spreadsheet straight into the exact syntax the project already uses. Two details usually follow: dates come through as the text Excel displays, such as 2024-01-15, and when a column holds Unix timestamps instead, the Unix timestamp converter reads them back; and when the destination is a data file rather than source code, the CSV ↔ JSON converter is the closer fit.
A concrete example
Suppose a sheet has the header row Name, Age, Active followed by its data rows. With "use first row as headers" on and object-array output selected for JavaScript, you get `const data = [ {Name: "Alice", Age: 30, Active: "TRUE"}, ... ];`. Turn headers off and switch to a 2D array, and the same sheet becomes `[["Name","Age","Active"], ["Alice","30","TRUE"], ...]`. With type detection on, 30 stays a number in the object-array output instead of being quoted as text.
Notes and edge cases
When a workbook holds several sheets, the first one is converted until you pick another from the Sheet list. Cells come through the way Excel shows them, so a date appears as text such as 2024-01-15 rather than a serial number. With object-array output, auto type detection turns numeric text into real numbers; disable it to keep every cell as a string when the column really is text, such as ZIP codes or ID codes with leading zeros.