Customer Reviews

MS Office 97 Visual Basic Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a perfect example of how a non programmer like myself can find happiness in the confines of the Visual Basic world. I don't want, or have time to learn VB from the ground up! I need fast, concise lessons, and answers to how VB works in Office 97. A great book for those who need this data, and are not afraid to spend a bit of the first few pages wondering if they bought the right book. It quickly picks up and takes you "step by step" and helps you really understand what is going on. There is something in it for everybody from the beginner to the seasoned pro. If the begining was a bit clearer, it would have rated a 5.

I love the Microsoft Step by Step books and this one is no exception. (I used the Word and Excel advanced books to help me pass MOUS expert tests) I was fairly inexperienced not to mention scared to death when it comes to macros, Visual Basic, VBA, the VBA editor, windows objects, methods, properties, activex controls, integrated office solutions and the like. (I do have a programming background but not in windows object-oriented programming.) This book eases you into those topics and shows you that they are not as bad you thought.( Some people are not good at jumping head first into something new, ya know.) This book is very clear about explaining things and the hands-on exercises are great. I do their exercises and then play around a bit and end up learning even more but the book is my base in learning the material. This book is not a reference book. It is a learning book, meant to be read from cover to cover. I'm glad I have this book to assist me in my journey of becoming a desktop specialist.

Thinking that the best people to write a book on Visual Basic for Apps are the people who created the product, I sent off for this book. I was disappointed to discover that a LOT of features of the VBA language were left out. I think the book is a good introduction to the language for beginners or those who know just a little ordinary VB, and who are willing to spend the time going chapter-to-chapter. It is NOT a good reference manual however, as it leaves major chunks of the language out, and the index is not very comprehensive. I now have to go buy a QUE book (one of the Using... series) which I have historically found to be the best reference. Poor performance, Microsoft!

This Book is not at all like all the others in the Step by Step Series and I wish I had put my money in to another book. OK I'm a novice but as a novice in Visual Basic for Applications I need to build some confidence in what I'm doing. With this in mind; You should be able to enter the code from the book and it should work. The code from the CD that comes with the books works well but there's nothing like working with a book to enter the code Step by Step just to find the code won't work. I've got 4 of the Step by step Series and this one is a flop and As for the name, it should be Stumble and fall.