How can I become an excel guru?

Lisa, I read a book entitled "Visual Basic for Applications Unleashed" which I found very helpful. But, the best learning experience I found was sites like this one. Helping other people with their Excel problems has greatly expanded my skill set (and, for the record, I don't consider myself an Excel guru, but I am striving towards it).

Regards,
Barrie
Barrie Davidson

Inorder to "use" Excel fully you are going to have to learn Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming. Some people can not "create" programs, some can, hope you can. Go to a good book store and you will be surprised how many books there are on VBA for Excel. (VBA is also used for the other Microsoft products.) I would start with a beginners book that shows all the basics and once you feel comfortable with programming, go for the more advanced books on VBA. It is not easy to find a class on just Excel VBA, I developed and taught such a class but could not find enought people to teach, etc...

If you do find such a class, it will give you the basics, just like the beginner book and you are on your own about programming. In my opinion, object programming, used by Excel, is easier than standard programming if you understand "what an object is".

Good luck in learning more about what Excel can do for you.

A few thoughts in addition to Rick's and Barrie's:

"Guru-ness" is in the eye of the beholder. To people I write programs for, I am an expert, but from my perspective, compared to people I see on this board and elsewhere on the internet, I am a raw rookie.

I avoid classes like the plague. For one, they must reduce their effectiveness to the lowest common denominator of Excel ability, or even more important, Excel aptitude. If you feel like you gravitate to all this Excel stuff, you really probably do. You won't learn from a classroom what you can teach yourself by reading as many books and trying new programming methods, and in solving real life problems for opinionated people.

One thing you cannot be afraid to do is make mistakes, or display your lack of knowledge about something in front of the whole world, if that is what it takes to learn important concepts. I cannot tell you the number of times I presented a code structure and upon scrutiny by experts, found that it contained superfluous or inefficient programming code. The point: check your ego at the door and you will learn a lot more in the long run.

Ask your friends or business associates how they wish some file or task can be automated or eliminated to get some practice. Offer to improve their file (always save their original copy in case you mess it up), and LISTEN TO THEIR FEEDBACK. After that, there is no substitute for solving real life business problems for impatient clients who change their mind often, and can barely turn on the computer. Knock a few of those down and you'll be on your way.

Finally, take your time. I have been doing this for 8 years but going thru this board and others, I learn something new everyday. Having fun with it is 95% of the battle.

Good luck.

Tom Urtis

Well said Tom (nt)

I think that paragraph hit the nail on the head. I feel the exact same way about it.

I guess I do. I like it and sometimes I feel like I know nothing at all and can't figure a problem out and then BAM I figure it out.

You won't learn from a classroom what you can teach yourself by reading as many books and trying new programming methods, and in solving real life problems for opinionated people.

I do have the fear of people thinking I am a big dummy. I feel like I should have it all figured out. I guess I will have to learn to stop doing this.

So true! I learn something new everyday and enjoy it!

Thanks! Great web page I bookmarked it.

It is a lot of fun, playing with VBA in excel, but sometimes I seem to run into problem which I cannot find the answer for though the answer is, more often than not very simple. I once thought that I bought a good book, cost me a load of dough anyway and it was said to be very good, Wel it was, if you don't know how to start excel. Anyway, I am also still looking for a good book which will help me solve a lot of problems. This site has already answered a couple of questions, but looking at the description of commands and so forth, I often get a lot of extra ideas and learn a lot, so I will also look into the earlier described book and other pages. Still, I am very gratefull for a site like this to be able to discuss and think about my own and other peoples problems (in excel) and have others give me ideas.

Luke