Customer Reviews

VBA For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

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

 

 

I am truly scratching my head trying to understand how this book received so many five star reviews on the Amazon site. Perhaps the author's friends wrote these reviews.
Anyway, let's set the record straight.
"VBA for Dummies" by John Paul Mueller is like taking a really bad computer class. A glance at the description of the author will give you an idea why. Mueller has apparently never taught a computer class.
Basically, the explanations in this book are not very clear and have hardly been simplified to accommodate the novice. The chapter on creating VBA forms is a good example. Nowhere in the chapter is there a single mention of the basic idea that to access and modify a form's code, you have to double-click on the form itself within the IDE (upon which the code window pops up). Also, it is not explained very clearly that each time you add a form to a spreadsheet or document you must essentially create two sets of VBA code, i.e. one for the form and one in a module that connects the form to the spreadsheet or document and is necessary to display the form.
The chapter on object-oriented programming, debatably the most crucial, is completely useless to anyone who has never before dealt with concepts like objects, classes, properties, and methods. In fact, the author does not even give an explanation of exactly what object-oriented programming is in the first place. While the examples of code in the chapter are very clever, they do not give an idea about how objects, classes, properties, or methods are really used.
The author prefaces the book by saying that "VBA for Dummies" assumes only that you have a solid understanding of Microsoft Windows and at least one Microsoft Office program. In fact, if you have no programming experience (with either VB or any another language), it will be very difficult with this book alone to learn VBA well enough to even write a simple macro without error. The book should be retitled perhaps "VBA for Definitely Not Total Dummies."

The author does a great job of getting you started and then helping you do something useful. I had used both Word and Excel extensively before I started reading this book, so I was already familiar with application usage. Unlike some books that would have assumed I didn't know anything about the application just because I've never written code, this one got me going with code right away. It wasn't long before I was writing some really helpful macros for both Word and Excel.

The author demonstrates that it's possible to do a lot more than you think you can do with either Word or Excel, but encourages you to use the right application for the job. I found the chapter on working with multiple applications the most useful because the examples are so practical and perform so well. This is a great book for someone who has never coded in VBA before and really wants to do something practical fast.

Very good self starting book. Considering that I have never written any code before this has been extremely helpful.

This book is typical Dummies in that it gets you started quickly and doesn't leave out any of the details. I needed to learn how to write macros in VBA for my current job, but wasn't sure I could learn how without spending a lot of time and money. This book got me going very quickly. It tells you everything you need to know about VBA.

The book would have been worthwhile if it stopped and teaching me VBA, but it didn't. The book went on to tell me about Office programming specifics. I now feel fairly competent to work with Word and Excel. The Access coverage probably could have been a little more extensive, but the book did get me started. All of the examples I've tried work very well and I think they teach interesting things.

I contacted the author with some questions and was amazed when he actually answered and didn't act like I was some kind of idiot. He helped answer a few questions I had about the book and told me how to download the sample code when I couldn't find it. This book and its author has been a real help when I needed it.

If you are looking for guidance with the nuts and bolts of writing VBA, I don't think this book will be helpful. It's more of a primer about how to write software in general than a book about writing VBA. I've found other works more useful. Maybe as I learn VBA this one will come in more handy, but I wouldn't recommend it for "Dummies."

This new edition covers VBA programming with XML, which was most important to me considering how much Microsoft touted Office 2003's XML usage. I'm using this book to create VBA programs, debug, OOP, etc. The code examples are great too. I've already built several new Office 2003 apps.

John Mueller does a great job of showing how to build applications with VBA in the For Dummies friendly style. This book is chocked full of practical, consise code examples that can be applied to everyday work experiences. I recommend this book to all who want to learn how to use VBA with ease!

Normally, I don't go out of my way to criticize a book, but this one warranted it. Do not buy this book. It is obvious that the author knows VBA, but he has a difficult time teaching it. The book fails on engaging the reader and providing real world examples. Rather, the author simply disseminates definitions of concepts, and allows little room for context. I truly do not understand how this one made it to press. I am confounded. His belletristic language, coupled with various errors point to someone in a hurry to meet a deadline and indulge himself rather than truly guide the reader. The book is peppered with poor and erroneous examples. I made a list of them and just threw it away, as it was becoming a waste of time. I have read many programming books in my day, and this is, by far, the worst. Do yourself a favor and find another book...I would say ANY VBA tutorial would be a better option. Try Diane Zak's book under Course Technology. What a difference. One is the right way to teach and the other is the right way to confuse. The only people I would advise to buy this are other authors of programming books, as it would help enlarge their self-esteem.

I bought "VBA for Dummies" hoping to bridge my knowledge of VB into the MS applications.

Anyone even a little familiar with using the VB language inside Word or Excel macros knows that the real study is how the internal application commands can be issued through the VB coding structure.

While Cummings knows a good deal about VB, he ultimately recommends that the reader use the Word and Excel help screens to learn how VB uses the application commands.

Unfortunately, a book about VBA needs to be about how to invoke these application commands from within the VB structure. Not going into these is like promising to teach how to cook a spaghetti dinner, and only explaining how to boil water.

If you don't already know VB, then pick up Wallace Wang's "Visual Basic 6 for Windows for Dummies". It gets half the VBA job done.

I'm still waiting for someone to write the other half.

Other than this book, I have had a wonderful experience with Books for Dummies. The real problem with this book is that it does not provide continuity or examples that are real life. I beleive the author thinks he is cute or funny, actually I purchased this book to learn something. I did not! As a result of this experience with this book I will be more careful in the future and actually have to go and peruse the book at a book store before I buy it. This is not good for e-commerce!
Leslie