VBA for Modelers: Developing Decision Support Systems Using Microsoft® Excel (Paperback)

by S. Christian Albright (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This handbook helps students learn to use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA - a programming environment within Microsoft® Office) as a means to automate methods and models and create special applications. With VBA, sophisticated management science techniques work behind a simple and nice interface. Gaining valuable experience, students will develop applications that are user friendly and tailored to a specific problem while the "number crunching" takes place behind the scenes of Microsoft® Excel. This book is for professional models or to complement a course in Management Science, or Operations Research thta includes survey of optimization, decision analysis, simulation, and other mathematical methods applied to business.

About the Author
Chris Albright received his B.S. degree in Mathematics from Stanford in 1968 and his Ph.D. in Operations Research from Stanford in 1972. Since then, he has been teaching in the Operations and Decision Technologies Department in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He has taught courses in management science, computer simulation, and statistics to all levels of business students: undergraduates, MBAs, and doctoral students. He has published over 20 articles in leading operations research journals in the area of applied probability, and he has authored other successful Duxbury titles including PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, Second Edition, VBA FOR MODELERS, and DATA ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING, Second Edition. His current interest is in spreadsheet modeling, including development of VBA applications in Excel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: South-Western College Pub; 1 edition (December 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534380123
• ISBN-13: 978-0534380120
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #750,580 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VBA for Excel Jewel, March 17, 2002

By	TONY WINGLER (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

VBA for Modelers by Albright is a jewel. The author, who's other books include Practical Management Science: Spreadsheet Modeling and Applications and Data Analysis & Decision Making with Microsoft Excel among others, targets this book for those with little or no programming experience. Forget the Excel VBA coverage in books like Benninga's Financial Modeling or Advanced Modeling in Finance Using Excel and VBA by Jackson and Staunton. Each of these books has strengths but their coverages of VBA is considerably more disjointed and sketchy. At best, Benninga and Jackson and Staunton can be said to "demonstrate" how VBA can enhance financial modeling in Excel, while providing little in the way of quality instruction on VBA.

Albright's strength is concise, effective language supplemented with numerous examples and an ample number of extended exercises which enable readers to solidify and extend understanding. Chapters 1-13 are a quality VBA primer for readers with little or no programming experience. A distinguishing feature of the book is the coverage in Chapters 14-30 where specific applications are demonstrated and extended. The real strength of this book is that it is written by a fine educator who develops understanding in a systematic and effective fashion. With some work on the reader's part this book provides rewarding results.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book to learn VBA programming for Excel, June 20, 2004

By A Customer

I looked through some 5 rated books on the subject before and after buying this book. Honestly, this is just simply THE BEST. It introduces to the reader basically all the concepts you need to learn to start writing VBA code for excel. It is just excellent, because there is both theory and very practical examples. You do not need to know anything about programming to start this book. Only thanks to this book (the other books that I tried to read where just useless for me) currently I am writing VBA codes in excel, which allowed to decrease routine works with excel at work from several hours to a matter of several minutes. It is really fascinating.
If you do not know much about VBA programming in Excel. This is the book to get.
Reference books such as Excel 2002 VBA: Programmers Reference are not useful, because they are references, they do not really teach unless you know what you are looking for.
Before buying this book I tried Advanced modelling in finance using Excel and VBA. No comparison.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gets your creative juices flowing!, April 14, 2005

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

The biggest problem that I see with learning VBA is not trying to figure out topics such as object hierarchy, syntax, or "if" statements (there are plenty of excellent VBA guides for that!) No, figuring out what to do with all of the "stuff" you just learned is the bigger challenge.

That is where Mr. Albright's book really stands out. While the first few chapters do provide some basic treatment of VBA, it's the other half of this book that really shines! Here you will find 16 full-blown programs that cover everything from industrial applications (process blending, product mix, production scheduling, etc.) to financial analysis programs (stock trading, portfolio optimization, etc) and much more.

In these 16 chapters is where you will learn to use all that "stuff." And not only use it, but get creative with it. Mr. Albright has done a brilliant job at not only walking through the code step-by-step, but also imparting to the reader the all important "why component." After spending some time with this book, you will undoubtedly be a better technical, and equally important, creative programmer.