Hale, Jim
Jim.Hale at FleetPride.com
Tue Jul 11 15:35:39 CDT 2006
In my mind VBA has always suffered from a dual personality. On the one hand when it was shiny and new it was presented as an ideal developer's environment. On the other it was presented as the ultimate power users Uber macro language. For power users it promised that "grasshopper, you too can become a real programmer, maybe even a DEVELOPER!". Since I am first and foremost a financial professional I have always viewed office and VBA as tools to an immediate end, the solution of financial/analytical problems. Immediate problems called for quick and dirty throw away solutions, repetitive problems called for full blown applications. Over the years as I have become more proficient and the tools and connections (think ODBC) have improved it has become possible to generate enormous amounts of analytical work. I can easily generate the analysis it required my staff of MBAs to do 25 years ago. The lure has always been the promise of vast increases in personal productivity. Access/VBA/Excel has been the magic carpet that allowed data to be obtained and easily manipulated from a vast a variety of sources. Learning VBA, while not trivial, obviously never had the learning curve of C+ or .net. Reading between the lines I think Microsoft once believed VBA would be embraced much more by power users than it has been. (I guess this makes me an odd duck but this isn't any startling revelation ;-)). It appears to me Microsoft is moving away from the Power user. I certainly don't have the time or desire to climb the new learning curve. The new paradigm is much more of a developer's playground than a power user's. This is a shame since the core reason I have been a big office/VBA fan is that it freed individuals from servitude to the IT group and put power in the hands of the users. Yup, the world is going to hell (grumble, grumble) and I am going to retreat to my hidey hole in Costa Rica in a year or so. Ya'll are invited to visit. Jim Hale -----Original Message----- From: Charlotte Foust [mailto:cfoust at infostatsystems.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 2:12 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] Demise of VBA Ken, At present VSTO is included with VS.Net but it is also a stand alone product that includes a standard version of VB.Net. It isn't cheap, by any means, but still cheaper than the full Visual Studio. As for the ease of the transition, that depends on what you have done in Access. Have you worked with classes, child classes, loosely coupled code, ADO, frameworks? If so, you aren't going to have a lot of trouble once you get used to the new object model. The only thing that makes VB.Net easier to move to than C# is the lack of the pesky scope indicators and braces, etc., that makes languages like C# hard for VB programmers to decipher. I LIKE VB.Net and resist getting dragged back into VBA. I wouldn't like to have had to make the transition on my own without a team member who was already conversant with VB.Net on hand to help, but I could have done it, as could most of us. I remember similar discussions when VBA became the language of MS Office and we had to give up WordBasic, AccessBasic, Excel Macro language, etc. As for alternatives, sure they're there, but if you want to keep the familiar Access interface, they're somewhat limited because VS.Net will be the scripting language for it. Charlotte Foust -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Kenneth Ismert Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 10:43 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: Re: [AccessD] Demise of VBA VBA is a dead language -- I've been saying that for a while now. When Microsoft stops updating a product, it's only a matter of time before it sunsets it. There are two driving reasons for this shift, as I see it: * VB6 and VBA have deep security issues. Microsoft is unwilling or unable to address this. * The VBA environment was included in Office, and Microsoft wants to realize extra revenue from the sale of VSTO. What does this mean for us? * Vastly more expensive entry into development. Very likely, VSTO will require a full version of Visual Studio -- no Express edition here. * Vastly higher learning curve. You thought the current system was tough? Try wrapping your head around a new language (don't believe the bullshit that VB.NET is any easier to move to than C#), new IDE, enormous new libraries (ADO.NET, BCL), and completely new methodologies. Not to mention the radically new Access 2007 interface. My point is, if you have to re-learn everything, why limit yourself to just Visual Studio? There is a universe of languages and development evironments, all free, for you to explore. And, not crippled intro product -- full-featured and free. You really owe it to yourself to explore the alternatives. -Ken -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com *********************************************************************** The information transmitted is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. 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