Discussion:
Future of VBA
(too old to reply)
Sean
2005-05-06 02:11:02 UTC
Permalink
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Nick Hodge
2005-05-07 18:04:02 UTC
Permalink
You'll not get any answers that are based on fact. The Excel macro language
has been supported right up to current versions, so for over 15 years since
it was developed. Of course it hasn't been updated since VBA was introduced
in V5.

MS are putting a lot of 'effort' into VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office)
to use Office objects under .NET languages, but it has a long way to go to
get volume use, as many people develop with VBA and apart from security and
distribution, there is little that cannot be done easier and directly in
VBA.

For sure VBA will be around for some product iterations yet. If you want to
be more future proof I suspect VSTO is the way to go. If you are thinking of
major projects now, VBA will be around and supported for long enough to
satisfy the lifecycle of any application built with it.

Just my £0.02
--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Sean
2005-05-08 00:48:01 UTC
Permalink
That is how I see it going as well and distrubution and security is one of my
concerns if I am going to take VBA deeply. VBA is a great thing to know for a
wow factor and to help a small company with an IT problem but I have been
concerned about protecting my work and also issues of installation which is
what I assumed the Office "developer" edition address which it seems MS is no
longer making Office "developer" and going VS instead.

I see VBA like javascript. Fun, quick, simple, fast, totally insecure. While
serious solutions should be done on ASP most likely serious solutions for
Office should be done in VS
Post by Nick Hodge
You'll not get any answers that are based on fact. The Excel macro language
has been supported right up to current versions, so for over 15 years since
it was developed. Of course it hasn't been updated since VBA was introduced
in V5.
MS are putting a lot of 'effort' into VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office)
to use Office objects under .NET languages, but it has a long way to go to
get volume use, as many people develop with VBA and apart from security and
distribution, there is little that cannot be done easier and directly in
VBA.
For sure VBA will be around for some product iterations yet. If you want to
be more future proof I suspect VSTO is the way to go. If you are thinking of
major projects now, VBA will be around and supported for long enough to
satisfy the lifecycle of any application built with it.
Just my £0.02
--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Howard Kaikow
2005-05-08 09:06:32 UTC
Permalink
I'm planning to use VB6 as long as it will still work with Office.
Protecting code is far more important than the benefits of using Windows
Forms, etc.
Not to mention being able to write VBA that works in Office 97 and later.
Charles Maxson
2005-05-10 03:24:46 UTC
Permalink
I agree with what's been said on this thread. I think the great benefit is
MSFT is keeping one current to Office (VBA) thru each release while building
on the other one (VSTO), which gives developers a choice. Both of these have
their merits and of course weaknesses, so it can often be an application by
application decision on which to use when. If VBA (VB6) does it for you,
stay there. Like Nick said, it is so tightly integrated its hard to ignore
how well it works.

If you can take advantage of the innovation in VSTO 2005 and the initial
deployment is not a barrier, its worth a consideration. You can do a lot
more with it than VBA but the bar is a bit higher for entry.

.... either way, you can get alot down by automating Office and you have
choices .... and time.... I would imagine MSFT will support VBA for a quite
a long time to come. Case in point, XLM Excel 4.0 macros still are kickin'
and they were not fractionally as widespread as VBA. Its likely all of us
will still be banging out some VBA in the years to come...


Charles
www.officezealot.com
Post by Howard Kaikow
I'm planning to use VB6 as long as it will still work with Office.
Protecting code is far more important than the benefits of using Windows
Forms, etc.
Not to mention being able to write VBA that works in Office 97 and later.
Leviatano
2009-10-28 08:13:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charles Maxson
I agree with what's been said on this thread. I think the great benefit is
MSFT is keeping one current to Office (VBA) thru each release while building
on the other one (VSTO), which gives developers a choice. Both of these have
their merits and of course weaknesses, so it can often be an application by
application decision on which to use when. If VBA (VB6) does it for you,
stay there. Like Nick said, it is so tightly integrated its hard to ignore
how well it works.
If you can take advantage of the innovation in VSTO 2005 and the initial
deployment is not a barrier, its worth a consideration. You can do a lot
more with it than VBA but the bar is a bit higher for entry.
..... either way, you can get alot down by automating Office and you have
choices .... and time.... I would imagine MSFT will support VBA for a quite
a long time to come. Case in point, XLM Excel 4.0 macros still are kickin'
and they were not fractionally as widespread as VBA. Its likely all of us
will still be banging out some VBA in the years to come...
Charles
www.officezealot.com
Post by Howard Kaikow
I'm planning to use VB6 as long as it will still work with Office.
Protecting code is far more important than the benefits of using Windows
Forms, etc.
Not to mention being able to write VBA that works in Office 97 and later.
Leviatano
2009-10-28 08:13:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Howard Kaikow
I'm planning to use VB6 as long as it will still work with Office.
Protecting code is far more important than the benefits of using Windows
Forms, etc.
Not to mention being able to write VBA that works in Office 97 and later.
Leviatano
2009-10-28 08:13:03 UTC
Permalink
Post by Sean
That is how I see it going as well and distrubution and security is one of my
concerns if I am going to take VBA deeply. VBA is a great thing to know for a
wow factor and to help a small company with an IT problem but I have been
concerned about protecting my work and also issues of installation which is
what I assumed the Office "developer" edition address which it seems MS is no
longer making Office "developer" and going VS instead.
I see VBA like javascript. Fun, quick, simple, fast, totally insecure. While
serious solutions should be done on ASP most likely serious solutions for
Office should be done in VS
Post by Nick Hodge
You'll not get any answers that are based on fact. The Excel macro language
has been supported right up to current versions, so for over 15 years since
it was developed. Of course it hasn't been updated since VBA was introduced
in V5.
MS are putting a lot of 'effort' into VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office)
to use Office objects under .NET languages, but it has a long way to go to
get volume use, as many people develop with VBA and apart from security and
distribution, there is little that cannot be done easier and directly in
VBA.
For sure VBA will be around for some product iterations yet. If you want to
be more future proof I suspect VSTO is the way to go. If you are thinking of
major projects now, VBA will be around and supported for long enough to
satisfy the lifecycle of any application built with it.
Just my £0.02
--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Leviatano
2009-10-28 08:13:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nick Hodge
You'll not get any answers that are based on fact. The Excel macro language
has been supported right up to current versions, so for over 15 years since
it was developed. Of course it hasn't been updated since VBA was introduced
in V5.
MS are putting a lot of 'effort' into VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office)
to use Office objects under .NET languages, but it has a long way to go to
get volume use, as many people develop with VBA and apart from security and
distribution, there is little that cannot be done easier and directly in
VBA.
For sure VBA will be around for some product iterations yet. If you want to
be more future proof I suspect VSTO is the way to go. If you are thinking of
major projects now, VBA will be around and supported for long enough to
satisfy the lifecycle of any application built with it.
Just my £0.02
--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Leviatano
2009-10-28 08:12:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
Rod Gill
2009-11-09 08:48:39 UTC
Permalink
There is an awful lot of mission critical software written in VBA. I've
heard people from Microsoft say they will give at least 2 versions of office
for notification of major changes. However, unless there is an automatic
upgrade to VSTO for VBA code many organizations would stay with the last
version of Office that supports VBA. Don't forget other products such as
AutoCad license VBA for their products as well.
--
Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com
Post by Sean
Looking for some solid information about the future of VBA.
Will MS create a .Net version of VBA for its office products? phase it out
completely? if so whats the lifecycle? etc.
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