Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course [Paperback]

Peter G. Aitken (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764540629 | ISBN-13: 978-0764540622 | Publication Date: October 10, 2003 | Edition: 1

• Thirty clearly defined lessons take the reader from understanding the parts of an Excel application into building applications to work with data, formulas, charts, and the enhanced XML capabilities of the new Excel "X"
• Book is designed to teach the core concepts of Excel over a weekend or in just fifteen hours, with each session being thirty minutes
• Applicable to Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and the latest release, Excel 2003
• Helps Excel power users in fields such as accounting, finance, operations management, and market research to begin automating data manipulation in Excel quickly, so they can handle real-world projects
• A how-to guide to using Excel's programmability to create custom data-processing and analysis solutions
• Covers security, debugging, and error handling
• Companion Web site includes sample files, projects, and test enginewith self-assessment exam

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get up to speed on Excel programming – in a weekend!

The big day is Monday. That’s when you get to show off what you know about Excel programming. The problem is, you’re not really up to speed. Maybe it’s been a while since you programmed Excel to create custom data processing solutions. Perhaps you’ve just discovered Excel’s adaptability. Or maybe you just like a challenge. In any event, we’ve got a solution for you – Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course. Open the book Friday evening and on Sunday afternoon, after completing 30 fast, focused sessions, you’ll be able to dive right in and start programming and automating Excel. It’s as simple as that.

The Curriculum

Friday

Evening: 4 Sessions, 2 Hours

• Microsoft® Excel and Programming–Why and How
• The VBA Code Editor
• The Excel Object Model
• Syntax and Data in VBA

Saturday

Morning: 6 Sessions, 3 Hours

• Operators
• Control Constructs
• Procedures and Modules
• Working with Dates and Times
• Working with Text
• Using Ranges and Selections

Afternoon: 6 Sessions, 3 Hours

• Working with Columns, Rows, and Cells
• Programming with Custom Formulas
• Programming with Excel's Built-In Functions
• Formatting a Worksheet
• Find and Replace Operations
• Creating Custom Toolbars

Saturday, cont.

Evening: 4 Sessions, 2 Hours

• Introduction to Charts
• Advanced Charting Techniques
• Creating Custom Dialog Boxes with User Forms
• Controls for User Forms

Sunday

Morning: 6 Sessions, 3 Hours

• Advanced User Form Techniques
• A User Form Example
• Working with Events
• Security Considerations
• Debugging and Distributing an Application
• Defining and Using Custom Classes

Afternoon: 4 Sessions, 2 Hours

• Handling Runtime Errors
• Database Tasks
• Creating Add-Ins
• Adding Online Help to Your Application

About the Author

Peter G. Aitken has been writing about computers and programming for over 10 years, with some 30 books as well as hundreds of magazine and trade publication articles to his credit. His recent book titles include Visual Basic .NET Programming with Peter Aitken, Office XP Development with VBA, XML the Microsoft Way, Windows Script Host, and Teach Yourself Visual Basic .NET Internet Programming in 21 Days. For several years he was a Contributing Editor at Visual Developer Magazine where he wrote a popular Visual Basic column. He is a regular contributor to Microsoft OfficePro magazine and the DevX Web site. Peter is the proprietor of PGA Consulting, providing custom application and Internet development to business, academia, and government since 1994.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764540629
• ISBN-13: 978-0764540622
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #999,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a weekend crash course, October 17, 2004

By 

Jimmy Clay (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course (Paperback)

I bought this book based on the reviews and summary because it sounds like a book that a beginner could really learn from. But not so. I've made it to chapter four but I'm finding I can go on no longer. This book is basically straight text. There are no step by step lessons to demonstrate what the lesson is talking about. The book does provide some sample code, but it is presented as an example; you do not build it yourself. This book tells you what to do, but you don't get your hands dirty by actually writing codes yourself and then seeing what the code does.

I will say this though. The text itself is well written and is readable enough, given the dry nature of the subject. But I do feel this is more of a reference book for beginners. I'm going to buy the Microsoft step-by-step book, then come back to this book.

I'm giving it two stars simply because I do not believe this book is what it claims to be, a weekend crash course.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing exercises and examples, June 24, 2005

By 

John Nanavati (Morristown, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course (Paperback)

I thought that the material was thought through and presented well. It fell short, in my opinion, because there weren't enough examples or any exercises to demonstrate how to apply the programming techniques to different situations within Excel.

A workbook would be a great addition to this text.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn Excel VBA in a weekend? You bet!, April 14, 2005

By 

B. W. Holcomb (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course (Paperback)

I recently picked this book up after I tasked myself with developing a quoting system for my company. I've had some exposure to VBA before, but only small segments such as a message or input box, simple forms, etc.

Immediately after sitting down with this book I was impressed. Mr. Aitken writes in a clear, concise, and very logical manner that I found easy to follow. Topics are presented well and for the most part given adequate treatment. Some may say the book is too basic, but it's not meant to be an advanced programming course.

In a little over three days, I was able to completely program a sales quoting system using multiple screens, worksheet linking, and simple database tables. Now, instead of hand-writing and calculating associated costs (which often leads to errors) the user is systematically prompted for key inputs and all calculations are done in the background. I've reduced administrative time required to complete a quote by over 25%.

Not bad for a weekend project!