One of the strengths of Excel is the ease with which users can extend its capabilities by writing programs in Excel's built-in macro language, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
This session introduces you to the ways that macros can be added to Excel. Those of you who have never programmed before may find this is an interesting way to learn a new skill. Others who have programmed in the "olden days" will be amazed how much more powerful the Visual Basic environment is, as a programming tool, compared to programming languages of a few years ago. Getting used to its capabilities does take some time, however, because they are more complex.
There is a risk in adding macros. The process can become addictive and is then very time-consuming. As soon as this starts to happen you MUST check that your work is constructive and that you are not producing an Excel add-on, that is already available. There is an order-of-magnitude difference between writing a little macro that you can use an "Excel aid" and writing a professional version that your colleagues can use on any of their worksheets. The latter implies generality, error checking and documentation, etc.
As described in Session 7, "Adding to Excel", the facility of adding macros to make YOUR use of Excel more effective is to be strongly encouraged. Often simple macros can grow into more general programs as the need arises.
First we consider the different ways of writing macros.