A Common Misconception About Spreadsheet Programming You Need to Know [Hint: What is Excel-VBA?]

[NB: The 2nd and concluding part of my tutorial titled “What You Need to Create a Splashscreen for Your Custom Spreadsheet Application” will go out next week]

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Today, I feature the article titled “What is Excel-VBA”, (which I wrote back in 2007) to inform and educate my desired target audience and other relevant stakeholders, about the difference between Excel-VB programming that I did, and Visual Basic – that most of them were more familiar with, and often tried to equate to what I did.

This need to put forward a clarifying piece like this comes from my recent discussion with a Farm CEO, who works a 9 to 5 job as a Network Administrator.

He caused me major amusement when he asked me to email him a “patch” to download to resolve a problem he had with one of my Excel-VB software that he’d purchased.

I said “What patch?” – and he replied that he meant a “piece of software designed to fix or improve” my Excel-VB software that he had purchased.

At that point I was forced to bluntly inform hims that Excel-VB programming vocabulary does NOT include such terms used in the Windows Operating System world – which was where he’d gotten the word “patch” i.e. as per the downloads that happen on Windows PCs to plug bugs or vulnerabilities in the Operating System.

The fact that he chose to use that term (meaning he assumed that kind of resource existed!), in addition to calling me a “Visual Basic (VB) Programmer” proved conclusively to me that he had NO CLUE what Excel-Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) was about and just how VERY different it was from anything he knew.

This is one tendency I’ve noticed in many people who feel they are IT expert or savvy in this part of the world. They readily assume they know what you do, and will often claim they can do it better than you.

I do not doubt that anyone with the right training and time can do what I do. I state that fact clearly in my 10 item code of ethics.

What I do however know is that most of those I have met lack the needed MENTAL discipline to commit the needed time and effort to acquire the needed training to be able to do what I do.

And that is what gives me the edge to stay more than one step ahead of them.

For those who learn from me, or who use the apps I build, the article below provides useful insights to help you educate and inform any such persons you may come across.

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What is Excel-VB?

What Is Excel-VB?

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for recording, re-organising, analysing and presenting information. By Excel VB, I refer to Excel VBA – where VBA means Visual Basic for Applications(VBA). VBA refers to the highly extensive and flexible macro programming language developed by Microsoft for use in their MS office applications – Word, Power Point, etc.

VBA is therefore different from the Standalone Visual Basic program used(by conventional programmers) for developing “standalone” or “executable” (.exe) software applications – though it borrows many of the latter’s features.

Think of Excel VBA as being the standalone Visual Basic software built into Excel for the benefit of Excel users/developers who are not traditional-minded programmers, but who are keen to exert more control over the application to enhance user productivity.

So, Excel VB offers any interested persons the necessary tools to make the application deliver more functionality. The final product is still an Excel document, but with extra functionalities added using VBA..

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