One of the most frequently asked questions on help forums probably is, "How can I learn Google Apps Script?" The answer is almost always the same: learn JavaScript and follow the numerous tutorials available on the Internet.

No doubt, it is one of the possible ways to learn but it is also one of the most difficult ways. I shall express my opinion on that subject at the end of this chapter, but let us first summarize what we really need to be able to use Google Apps Script efficiently.

The first and most important thing we must have is a clear idea of what we want to achieve.

This seems a bit silly because we think, "Oh well, of course I know what I want; I just don't know how to do it!"

As a matter of fact, this is often not the case. Let us have an example: a colleague asked me recently how he could count the time he was spending at school for meetings and other administrative tasks, not taking into account his hours as a teacher.

This was supposed to...