If you program a VBA macro in previous versions of Excel then they almost always (No, not always, there are always exceptions) work with newer versions. Understanding that, most of the code will translate without need to recode any of it. Visual Studio doesn't focus solely on Office so would be less advantageous to learning Excel.ģ) Not all Excel 2007 VBA will necessarily work for previous versions. VBA also gives you a greater understanding on how Excel works because it deals mostly with manipulation of data and ranges within Excel. So to code VBA you will have MS Excel open. VBA code will because it only works within MS Office. The learning curve is much steeper due to it's greater versatility.Ģ) Visual Studio will not necessarily help you in use of Excel (any flavor).

Some coding experience will transfer between VBA and the VB code in Visual Studio, but Visual Studio is a full coding environment platform meant to code desktop applications. If you wish do do more coding than just office macros then you will probably want to invest in Visual Studio. it comes with MS Office and is a little easier to learn / use with office. > I am new to programming and only intend to learn code in order to create macros in Excel & Powerpointġ) Which programming language should I invest my time to learn if you were in my situation? This is complicated by the fact that most corporations do are not using Office 2007 and (from my experience) are utilzing Excel 2003Ģ) If I choose to learn Visual Studio or VBA 2007, will my knowledge of the language enable me to use Excel 2003?ģ) If I create a macro in (for eg.) excel 2007, will it run in excel 2003?ġ) If you're only going to code macros then it is far cheaper to go with VBA. VB net vs Visual Studios? Is there an expert that can provide me with some guidance given that: I am SOOOO confused as to what the scoop is with VBA vs. I am using my spare time to learn how to create macros (for the first time) in Excel and Powerpoint in order to the use the programs more efficiently (since I spend way too much time on the them :) First, my apologies if this is not the right forum.

Learn visual basic for excel 2007