Learn Visual Basic Online

Visual Basic is one of the most widely used computer programming system in the history of software. It is a computer programming system developed and owned by Microsoft. Visual Basic was one of the first systems that was convenient for writing programs for the Windows operating system and includes everything that is necessary to write programs for Windows. The software tools included in Visual Basic help to create the detailed programming required by Windows. These software tools not only create Windows programs, but enable programmers to also use the graphical aspects of the software to draw their systems with a mouse on the computer. This explains the phrase “Visual” in Visual Basic.

Why Do You Need to Learn Visual Basic?

Visual Basic is a widely used software in the programming world. So it makes sense to learn Visual Basic and the other related applications and scripts aligned to VB. But do you need to take a break from your present job or education to learn Visual Basic? No you don’t! All you need is a laptop or PC or mobile device to download and browse the online courses, an internet connection, and registration for the online courses.

Since VB’s inception in 1991, there have been nine versions of Visual Basic up to VB.NET 2005, the latest version. The first six versions were all called Visual Basic. In 2002, Microsoft introduced Visual Basic .NET 1.0, a completely redesigned and rewritten version that was more appropriate for larger computer architecture. Many programmers still prefer Visual Basic 6.0 and few use even earlier versions. Those programmers familiar with C, C++, and Java can use the .NET version of the C programming language, called C#.NET. This is virtually identical with the same program written in VB.NET, and the choice depends on the preference of the programmer.

Make a Smart Move and Learn VBA

Visual Basic Application (VBA) is a subset of VB which runs inside one of the Microsoft Office applications. When you’re looking for a level of customization and control over your application that goes beyond what you can find in the standard Microsoft Office, using VBA is the way to solve the problem. VBA can be used to respond to events on forms and reports, and create custom functions. VB is a development tool for the production of code components such as executable programs, COM components, or ActiveX controls. It is a complete development environment, comparable to Visual C++. A VB application is launched as an application in its own right, whereas the VBA program has to be launched by the host application, such as Word or Excel.

VBA in EXCEL

Visual Basic for Applications or VBA is used to control and extend the functionalities of Microsoft Excel. VBA works by running macros, which are step-by-step procedures written in Visual Basic. By learning to write VBA code you can unlock the true power of Excel and be able to do things which you earlier didn’t think were possible. One of the biggest uses of VBA in Excel is to automate repetitive tasks. You can also use VBA to build new capabilities in Excel, for example, develop new algorithms to analyze your data, use the charting capabilities in Excel to display the results, and integrate Excel with other Office applications such as Microsoft Access.

VBA in Word

Even though Microsoft Word has several built-in features, you always want improvements, extensions and ways to do away with repetitive jobs. To make things easier, Microsoft has provided macro development possibilities through the Visual Basic for Applications environment. VBA is edited through the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor. VBA can be used with Word to design a form and use VBA macros to ensure every detail of the user’s interaction are entered into the form. Word provides several ways to launch a VBA application. VBA UserForm is a custom dialog box, where you can add form fields for the variable content and into these fields users can enter the necessary information.  You can then write VBA code or use macros to power the form.

VBA in MS Access

Microsoft Access is another Microsoft product used to create computer databases that can be used on a Microsoft Windows operating system, on a web site, or on a portable medium. Though a good performing database can be created by only using Microsoft Office Access, you may sometimes require more complex databases and may need to perform functions such as automate certain processes and tie your database objects together. These can be achieved by programming and writing codes in VBA. Learn VBA for Microsoft Access will orient you to the programming tools in Microsoft Office Access 2007 and will point you to some resources where you can learn more about programming.

Summary

Visual Basic is an easy to learn programming language and you can use it to develop Windows based applications and games. When you master VB you can advance further to learn VBA. You can become a smarter programmer when if you use VBA codes and macros to automate Excel tasks. VBA will make your jobs in Excel, Word, and Access faster with lesser, repetitive manual labor. You also have the option of creating automation solutions using the Microsoft .NET platform, which supports several different languages and VB.NET is available as part of the Microsoft Visual Studio package. You can keep exploring ways to empower yourself to become a powerful programmer and with a wide variety of courses available online, you definitely have a wide choice.