Best book for absolute starter to VBA??

**amygdalus** · 01-05-2010, 03:57 AM

Hi there,

I am a controller and decided to learn VBA to make life easier at the year ends

I have seen many book s but what i need is the one that is not detailed, not that thick and has a basic teaching? i don t plan to be a vba guru but more to see what can be done

i am lookig for a vba guide rather than a glossary..

can anyone advise one?

happy new year all!

**teylyn** · 01-05-2010, 04:01 AM

moved to Programming Forum.

amygdalus, please use one of the question forums for questions from now on.

My personal recommendation is John Walkenbach's Excel VBA for Dummies. It explains the concepts of VBA well enough, without going into too much nitty-gritty detail.

Please update your profile to reflect your Excel version. The Walkenbach book is available for Excel 2003 as well as Excel 2007. I recommend you get the volume for the version you're running, since there are some differences.

cheers

**johnjohns** · 01-05-2010, 04:28 AM

I am fully there with Teylyn. Master John Walkenbach's books are amazingly wonderful. Also you can surf thru the threads in this forum.

rgds

johnjohns

**Richard Schollar** · 01-05-2010, 05:55 AM

I third it - the Walkenback book was where I started back in 1999. It is thoroughly excellent.

Because you want to "see what can be done" you may find a book specifically aimed at certain things (eg like Reports or Data Analysis) may be helpful. If you deal with Accounting Databases frequently and therefore probably need to analyse the data contained within, then I think the book "Excel Advanced Report Development" by Timothy Zapawa is about the best out there.

**Palmetto** · 01-05-2010, 08:26 AM

Ditto the comments on JW's VBA for Dummies. As a complimentary stepping stone to go to the next level you may also want to get his Power Programming with VBA. Get this *only* after you fully understand the concepts in VBA for dummies.

**davesexcel** · 01-05-2010, 10:34 AM

JW Excel VBA for Dummies was my first book I bought but it was not my first read.

I first google sites with excel vba information, I would print everything out and place it in a binder. I am sure I have all of the Oz's pages printed out and Dave McRitchie, Chip Pearsons, Contextures,xldynamixs and many more, also a very important one was excel-VBA.
The first site found was Jwalk, I couldn't believe this new information I was learning, I printed out all of his Q&A pages and read them, if it was summer time I would go into the green house and read the newly printed VBA information, drink a beer or six, then stumble into the house and pass out, I mean, get ready for bed on the couch.

**hoffey** · 01-05-2010, 11:59 AM

I concur with Power Programming with VBA from JW. May I also recommend Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few. Both of these books together will teach you the basics of proper design and implementation.

Read the reviews on Amazon, you cannot go wrong.

**excelkeechak** · 01-08-2010, 10:11 PM

Yes,that was the best books on VBA.I too learnt VBA from Scrap.I was really very poor in Programming & Mathematics too.I m struggling with the vba from the last 10 years.Nobody might believe it.

But now,i m confident that i had mastered the fear that i can never learn programming in my life time.Really it such a wonderful subject to fiddle around.

We can learn more from Mistakes.So make more mistakes & more mistakes.Take time to Experiment and use different logic. I m very much grateful to this site(EXCEL FORUM) as i had learnt many things in excel macros,which i m using on regular basis in my work to reduce errors & speed up the work with greater accuracy & Speed.

Patience & practice helped me achieve all this.Thanks to the almighty for his support.