Linisus Blog

As a former TA for Mgtsc 471 (Decision Support Systems), I can tell you that doing coding under Visual Basic of Applications (VBA) was probably one of the most practical tools I learned and taught during my University career. VBA is one of the few reasons why the Microsoft Office suite is so powerful and useful - its easy for a power user to learn programming without nerding out in front a Unix box.

I hate to tell all the former students who took 471 before, with and after me - VBA may soon disappear.

At a high level, VBA support is already waning on the Office side - the next version of Office already endorses Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) and the .NET framework, which offers much greater integration with tools and better security over its applications.

Should you need to panic? No - The use of VBA will vary from organization to organization, and the likelyhood that yours will immediately adopt the replacement is low, and the transition will most likely slow as well.

If you have the chance to learn VBA, should you still do it? Yes - VBA is a very easy language to learn, and with some effort, you can port your pre-made VBA programs into the VSTO/.NET environment.

If you are really emotionally attached to your VBA, now is probably a good time to start learning and getting familiar with the .NET and VSTO framework, and start thinking how your VBA code and skills can carry over; it won’t be a complete shock when the transition occurs.

If you’re looking to establish yourself as a power user, learn how to program in VSTO now - you will be the cutting edge power user when it comes into full swing, since you’ll be the one replacing the older VBA power users with the newest Office versions.

Read about Migrating add-ins from VBA to VSTO, and more about applying your VBA knowledge to VSTO and Office 2007.

Disclaimer: Strictly opinion, use at your own risk! Think I’m stupid? You’re probably right, but you can sound off at me so I really know for sure.