First, Lomax explains the structure and syntax of Visual Basic (VB) and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programs. He details all the important stuff, including how to work with variables, how to create custom functions, how to create classes, how to handle errors, and how to react to user events. If you're up to speed on general programming concepts and just want to know how to get something done in VB/VBA, you'll find this part of the book especially handy.

The second, and largest, part of the book is a language reference in the classic O'Reilly style. Every function, statement, keyword, and miscellaneous bit of code has a clear, complete entry. Each entry includes a statement of syntax, a description of the function's purpose, a quick example of its use, and some tips for using it successfully. The reference documents the language as it exists in VB6. --David Wall

Product Description
The online documentation of VB/VBA language components seems to follow the 80/20 rule: the basic facts that you need to use a language statement are provided in the documentation. But the additional 20 percent that you need to use it effectively or to apply it to special cases is conspicuously absent. To a professional VB/VBA programmer, though, this missing 20 percent of the language's documentation isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. And in VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language, it finally is available. The bulk of the book consists of an alphabetical reference to the statements, procedures, and functions of the VB/VBA language. Each entry has a standardized listing containing the following information:

• Its syntax, using standard code conventions
• Differences in the operation of the keyword in a macro environment (e.g., in Office) and in Visual Basic, if there are any
• A list of arguments accepted by the function or procedure, if any
• A description of the data type returned by a function
• The finer points of a keyword's usage that are often omitted from or blurred over by the documentation
• Tips and gotchas that include undocumented behaviors and practical applications for particular language elements -- a section particularly invaluable for diagnosing or avoiding potential programming problems
• A brief, nonobvious example that illustrates the use of the keyword

• Basic VBA programming concepts, such as its data types and its support for variables, constants, and arrays
• Error handling in VBA applications
• Object programming with VBA
• Using VBA with particular applications. Excel and Project are utilized to show how to work with an application's integrated development environment and to take advantage of its object model Regardless of how much experience you have programming with VBA, this is the book you'll pick up time and time again both as your standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems.

The bulk of the book (80-85%) is the language reference alphabetized and some appendices dividing the language reference up by other methods, such as similar functions/methods, data types, operators, etc. Chapter 4 "Class Modules" contains a concise, 20-page refresher on how to object-orient your VB with classes. I had studied a few other books on OOP VB but still don't have it down pat, this chapter will be my guide until I can do classes in my sleep. Very little covered on API functions but also a great section on ActiveX (creating, registering, unregistering, Controls, EXE vs. DLLs).

Probably the biggest question I faced was: "Why get this book when I have an MSDN subscription at work?" This book is supposed to pick up where that takes off. I hate searching through the whole MSDN for one method. It can take forever. Plus, this book will travel with me.

On a side note, I'm studying for my MCSD and this book has been very valuable. From my past experience with Microsoft exams, you never know when you are going to get a specific question about a particular function, property and method and have to know the default value, or which property would not belong to an object. If you have never used it before, you'll have no idea. It's no fun to actually "study" such a reference book, but this book is very detailed and comprehensive about what everything does and how it could be used. I know the more I thumb through this thing, the better the chance I have of nailing a question on a test. Would make a great complimentary book to the MCSD VB exams 70-156 and 70-155.


Convenient, Concise, Complete   February 28, 2000
 39 out of 40 found this review helpful

As a VB client-server programmer, I hardly have the time to wait for VB's HTML help to appear, much less search through it! This book is really in a class by itself as far as VB references go. It's the perfect size to keep right at hand, yet it contains the answer to virtually every question I've asked it. The encyclopedia-type language reference is preceded by exceptional discussions of VB data types, classes, object models, and error handling, and also includes several interesting and useful appendices. About the only thing I've not found in it is an ASCII chart. The language element entries are peppered with sidebars on relevant topics, all entries are discussed with remote automation issues in mind, and great examples abound (the entry for the Format function runs to 9 pages, mostly examples). If you program VB for a living, you've got to have this book close by.


Excellent Reference Book   February 19, 2000
 28 out of 28 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book for someone who already knows how to program VB but needs a reference for looking up VB commands and syntax. I especially like the "Programming Tips and Gotchas" that are listed with every command. They contain the little things that you usually only learn about through experience and they really do save you a lot of time. Another helpful thing, after each command there's a list of related commands.

All in all this is a great resource for the professional programmer. And the clincher is that it's relatively inexpensive as far as computer books go.


A good reference, definitely not a tutorial   September 12, 2001
 21 out of 22 found this review helpful

As a C++ and former BASIC programmer, I picked up this book to have a reference of all the keywords and constants in the VB language, but also to see simple examples of concepts and have the overall structure of the language explained to me. This book provides an excellent desktop reference of all the functions and keywords, etc., as most of the book is just that. The first/remaining 1/3 of the book covers the "structure" territory, but not terribly well. It does this as an explanation to VB5 programmers who are moving up to VB6; definitely NOT from the perspective of an object-oriented language like C++, making the switch. IMHO, the explanations are quite confusing (e.g. the author assumes certain VB concepts are already known, such as the difference between code modules and class modules, etc.); the author eschews full code examples (providing only snippets and fragments); and there are no exercises whatsoever anywhere in the book with which to test your knowledge. As a tutorial (admittedly, the reviewers here have said this is NOT), the book fails miserably. As a reference for an established VB programmer, I'd say it's quite good. I'm only disappointed I will have to seek out a different book to get the lessons I now (still) need.


The perfect reference.   November 2, 2000
 18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I have never been dissapointed with an "In a Nutshell" book. This book is a must have guide for any programmer who finds themself programming with Visual Basic. I am a seasoned C++ and Powerbuilder programmer and picked up this book as an aid to learning the VB language and soon discovered this was the only book I needed. I especially like the "Rules at a glance" and the "Programming Tips and Gotchas" found after each function description. I often find myself going to this book first before searching Microsoft's online help.