Visual Basic Book Suggestions

[Toddwh1]

I am trying to learn Visual Basic. So I can get better at the macros and functions. Is Visual Basic code different when used in excel?

Also, what would you recommend for a great book to learn more about it. The trouble I am having is mostly with syntext. I know the statements for PHP and Mysql how does visual basic differ in syntext?

Any suggestions?

Thank you,
Todd H.

 

[Richard Schollar]

Hi Todd

If you want to learn VB specifically for use in Excel then I think you would be better off getting a book on Excel VBA so that you can learn the Excel object model. VBA and PHP bear certain similarities so if you are confident in one you shouldn't find it too difficult to learn the other.

John Walkenbach's Power Programming with VBA series is excellent and would be a fine place to start.

 

[Toddwh1]

Hello,

Would "John Walkenbach's Power Programming with VBA series is excellent and would be a fine place to start" be a book for the excel programming? Or is that for regular Visual Basic.

Thank you,
Todd H.

 

[Richard Schollar]

Todd it's Excel-specific. The full title (for 2007 version) is "Excel 2007 Power Programming with VBA"

 

[Richard Schollar]

Depending on what version of Excel you have, the 2010 Power Prog has been released, but if you are using 2003 or less, I would go for that one (as 2007 does have some differences). Legacy versions ie 2003 and below are likely to be very cheap and yet are largely applicable to later versions too.

If you want more detail and depth then the "Excel 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference" is superb.

 

[AgentSmith]

If you want a good reference book to go alongside, I'd suggest "VB & VBA in a Nutshell" published by O'Reilly. It won't teach you the language but it's great if you just need to look something up quickly. However, as the title suggests, it's not Excel-specific.

 

[RoryA]

The VBA Developer's Handbook is worth its (considerable) weight in gold too.