but i use those on hourly basis each working day, i wouldn't even have a job without those. they are essentials.I am taking an Excel course, and one of the sections has us learning how to use Macros and VBA, but I'm having a hard time seeing these tools being used in real life.
but I'm having a hard time seeing these tools being used in real life.
Excel is a phenomenal tool without vba, and I've used it alone and with everything in vba. Why solely vba? Because I've created an application where the user(s) interact with Excel via custom User Forms, and they never see, nor edit formulas. In some cases, I've made them initiate editing actions through key combinations which fist, unprotect the worksheet, and when finished, it protects it again. I had a boss once upon a time that would edit, and break formulas if he had access to them. Locking the worksheet down saved me many hours of rework or updates.I can't agree that "Excel isn't Excel without VBA"; Excel by itself is an exceptionally useful tool. But it's true I use VBA programming quite a bit, both professionally and at home, to automate repeated tasks. In some cases the ability to program, in VBA or some other language that can interact with MS Office, enables a client to collect information and generate hundreds of workbooks with data individualized to a department or manager. On other cases it's just a matter of a customized worksheet function, or summing up data in a particular way that I can't figure out how to do with the built-in functions.
Of course, I'm a programmer at heart; I've loved coding ever since I was exposed to it in college. Most people are perfectly content getting along without it. If you're one of those people, don't let us enthusiasts talk you into feeling guilty about being the other sort. But it sure is useful.