If you think the IDE for VBA is awful, get ready for the tooling for Google Apps Script. I happened to be reading the first few chapters of a new book, "Going GAS: From VBA to Google Apps Script"[1]. He praises the VBA IDE, much better than the thing Google offers for GAS. But he sees the writing on the wall, and that VBA's days are numbered.
"Why Transition from VBA?
In many ways, VBA has been a victim of its own success. Its tight integration with Office and very usable and immediate development environment make it hard to beat. However, it’s been with us since 1991, the same year that Tim Berners-Lee created the first website, which is still running today, but for historical rather any aesthetic or functional reasons.
Although VBA is as far removed from its 1991 forefather as today’s HTML5 sites are from that first website, every version of Office for as long as I can remember has come with a threat that perhaps VBA will not be supported. Office 2008 for Mac did not support VBA, but it was back again by public demand in Office 2011. Office 2016 has just been released, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief to see that VBA is still there. But Microsoft’s focus is shifting to Office 365 from Office for the desktop. According to Satya Nadella of Microsoft, “the most strategic developer surface for us is Office 365.”"
"Why Transition from VBA?
In many ways, VBA has been a victim of its own success. Its tight integration with Office and very usable and immediate development environment make it hard to beat. However, it’s been with us since 1991, the same year that Tim Berners-Lee created the first website, which is still running today, but for historical rather any aesthetic or functional reasons.
Although VBA is as far removed from its 1991 forefather as today’s HTML5 sites are from that first website, every version of Office for as long as I can remember has come with a threat that perhaps VBA will not be supported. Office 2008 for Mac did not support VBA, but it was back again by public demand in Office 2011. Office 2016 has just been released, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief to see that VBA is still there. But Microsoft’s focus is shifting to Office 365 from Office for the desktop. According to Satya Nadella of Microsoft, “the most strategic developer surface for us is Office 365.”"
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Going-GAS-Google-Apps-Script/dp/149194...