What version of Excel Power Programming with VBA? Should I “J Walk” or not?

[sebby_joe]

I’m planning on buying the Excel Power Programming with VBA book; however, I understand that John Walkenbach’s writing was the magic that made the book great.

So I’m not sure which version/edition to buy

1. 2013 or earlier version - John Walkenbach (J Walk) is the undisputed author — but the books are older and could be dated

2. 2016 version - the listed authors are Mike Alexander and **** Kusleika, but John Walkenbach picture is still on the cover.

3. 2019 - most recent version but John Walkenbach’s picture has been removed from the cover and Alexander & Kusleika are authors.

My concern is that although the most recent versions may have updates for newer versions of Excel, there might be significant re-writing by the new authors, or—EVEN WORSE—a rework of the book by “committee” and a loss of the JWalk magic.

Does anyone have experience with theses books and know which version I should get? FYI, I use Office 365 on Windows 10. Thanks!

 

[Dan_W]

I've got:

• Excel 2010 Power Programming with VBA
• Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA
• Excel 2019 Power Programming with VBA

I've had a look at a few sections present in both the earliest and most recent versions I have (2010 and 2019 respectively) ('Workbook Level Events' and 'Creating and Using Add-ins' if you're wondering) - and to be honest it's all much of a muchness. In those sections, most of the text on the page appears to be perfect duplicates. The 'notes' sections seem to be paraphrased at places, but not very different from what was in the 2010 version. I suspect that's the case for most of the book.

I will say, htough, that the 2019 version is shorter than the 2010 version. The 2010 version has a 20+ pages at towards the end on 'Working with Colors' (it's in the 2013 version too), which I quite liked - but it's not there at all in the 2019 version. But being shorter in length isn't necessarily a bad thing - it could mean that it's leaner and meaner.No idea what the 2016 version contains, but I'd be stunned if it had just branched out on its own evolutionary journey and was wildly dissimiliar from these versions. It also depends on what you want from the book. Personally, I could care less about certain parts of Excel/VBA (I won't reveal which ones, though) so I've ignored whole chapters in these and other VBA books.

I reckon just get the most recent version - if you actually want to learn things, the authors will have gone to the trouble of making it relevant and usable for the software you've got - so you don't have to puzzle over why the code Application.CommandBars... isn't having the quite the effect you thought it would or having to spend half-an-hour looking up the proper 64-bit version of some random API Declaration.

 

[sebby_joe]

Brilliant Dan. I have my answer ??

 

[Dan_W]

Gosh really? I didn't think I was much help! LOL
What did you decide, out of curiosity?

 

[sebby_joe]

Gosh really? I didn't think I was much help! LOL
What did you decide, out of curiosity?

The most recent version! From your description, it sounds like the new(ish) authors didn’t ruin an already successful book; they are just making sure that it remains current even though the original author has moved on to… whatever. Thanks again.