It's all because of change control. The moment you have to deal with it as a non central IT dev or upskilled BA, you hate the experience and then start getting creative with the tools you've got. And then 20 years happens.
Why do people still use VBA?
121–130 of 421 posts
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#122I read essays from 40 years ago, about what the office of the future could and should look like.
There always seemed to be an assumption that you would empower the user with tools.
I suppose VBA does that to an extent, but it seems like we haven't moved the idea forward in 30 years.
I'd like to say it's because it's 'good enough', I suspect it's more a hold over from an earlier time that hasn't been eradicated yet.
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#123Corps have a dev environment sitting right in Excel that doesn't need special (management, management's management, adding to a registrar of projects, budgeting or project manager assigned, etc) approval for non-stock software. The stack's Excel, plus Sharepoint if you're really looking for a networked data store that also has a web interface. From that end-user direction, solutions emerge. And they're in VBA.
Worth also pointing out that sometimes when you're in a corporate dystopian hell hole do not expect to be able to actually request or install software on your device. What is there is what you have and trying to get it changed is an exercise in taking on the bureaucracy. It's not worth it. Many people have tried and failed. Back in the dark ages, we had a horrible reporting engine in Word VBA that pulled report defin…
I suspect that dystopian environments of locked-down mandatory corporate Windows laptops with no software installation privileges, firewalled networking and even the USB ports disabled are also part of the reason for every function being crammed into the browser to the point that the browser has become an operating system host... Creativity (and catastrophes) happens where there is freedom: local scripting and browser scripting !
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#124Let's face it: IT is the bureaucracy department of modern times which can keep itself 95% busy with self inflicted problems and has 5% service orientation. Processes are opaque for outsiders and typically not helpful. I really had to lough when I read the following description of the IBM BPM but this sums up a good part of the issue: "...while IBM BPM does come with a REST API, this REST API is borderline useless to…
So the answer is: Because it is the only programming language Corporate can’t choose not to install. The wonders of ‘Enterprise’, it amazes me when people bring it up as if it’s any kind of advantage or excuse.
Huh? The parent clearly points out that it's much less effort and hassle to get an 80% solution.
Who wouldn't want to spend a tiny fraction of the effort to get 80% of the outcome?
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#125Let's face it: IT is the bureaucracy department of modern times which can keep itself 95% busy with self inflicted problems and has 5% service orientation. Processes are opaque for outsiders and typically not helpful. I really had to lough when I read the following description of the IBM BPM but this sums up a good part of the issue: "...while IBM BPM does come with a REST API, this REST API is borderline useless to…
There's a sentence in the article which says that this is an explicit policy decision of the company.
> It is supposedly “Against the technology strategic vision of the company” to allow “end-users” access to high level programming languages.
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#126Corps have a dev environment sitting right in Excel that doesn't need special (management, management's management, adding to a registrar of projects, budgeting or project manager assigned, etc) approval for non-stock software. The stack's Excel, plus Sharepoint if you're really looking for a networked data store that also has a web interface. From that end-user direction, solutions emerge. And they're in VBA.
I've seen the following at least twice: some department manager (marketeers typically have a nack for this) needs something, can't or won't bother the development team and starts off with "how difficult can it be" and before you know it they've written a few hundred lines of VBA, which serves their needs. But then, the next phase starts: that scripts gets copied over (because Jim wanted to run it too) and modified (J…
But isn't that how it's supposed to work for these LOB type applications? Users prototype a solution and the developers then change it into a proper real world application. Alternative approaches are usually worse.
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#127Corps have a dev environment sitting right in Excel that doesn't need special (management, management's management, adding to a registrar of projects, budgeting or project manager assigned, etc) approval for non-stock software. The stack's Excel, plus Sharepoint if you're really looking for a networked data store that also has a web interface. From that end-user direction, solutions emerge. And they're in VBA.
I've seen the following at least twice: some department manager (marketeers typically have a nack for this) needs something, can't or won't bother the development team and starts off with "how difficult can it be" and before you know it they've written a few hundred lines of VBA, which serves their needs. But then, the next phase starts: that scripts gets copied over (because Jim wanted to run it too) and modified (J…
Look at it another way: that script kludge is a prototype, a dangerous one of course, that embodies the functional requirement better than what the user could express. Understand its deep meaning (what the user meant to do and and not what they settled on considering their technical limitations) and you are ready to rewrite it into a proper implementation. We frequently stumbled upon this situations and we like them, because a well used kludge that reaches its breaking point has buy-in from all stakeholders for a well-budgeted industrialization !
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#128Let's face it: IT is the bureaucracy department of modern times which can keep itself 95% busy with self inflicted problems and has 5% service orientation. Processes are opaque for outsiders and typically not helpful. I really had to lough when I read the following description of the IBM BPM but this sums up a good part of the issue: "...while IBM BPM does come with a REST API, this REST API is borderline useless to…
There's a sentence in the article which says that this is an explicit policy decision of the company. > It is supposedly “Against the technology strategic vision of the company” to allow “end-users” access to high level programming languages.
At this point it's not even explicit - it's an implicit decision of most companies, and even OSS projects, because it became part of the "common wisdom" of computing, part of the zeitgeist.
This is where the idea of "a computer as a bicycle for the mind" died.
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Worth also pointing out that sometimes when you're in a corporate dystopian hell hole do not expect to be able to actually request or install software on your device. What is there is what you have and trying to get it changed is an exercise in taking on the bureaucracy. It's not worth it. Many people have tried and failed. Back in the dark ages, we had a horrible reporting engine in Word VBA that pulled report defin…
I suspect that dystopian environments of locked-down mandatory corporate Windows laptops with no software installation privileges, firewalled networking and even the USB ports disabled are also part of the reason for every function being crammed into the browser to the point that the browser has become an operating system host... Creativity (and catastrophes) happens where there is freedom: local scripting and browse…
>no software install...
I think there's even a Lazarus IDE available for every company user who wants to create reliable RAD based software bound to corporateware.
Re: Why do people still use VBA?
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
So the answer is: Because it is the only programming language Corporate can’t choose not to install. The wonders of ‘Enterprise’, it amazes me when people bring it up as if it’s any kind of advantage or excuse.
Huh? The parent clearly points out that it's much less effort and hassle to get an 80% solution. Who wouldn't want to spend a tiny fraction of the effort to get 80% of the outcome?
Yes. But 90% of "effort and hassle" is dealing with IT department bullshit. Excel/VBA lets you sidestep that entirely.