Evolution of Visual Basic

In the last several years, Visual Basic has evolved rapidly.  Until recently, Visual Basic was a proprietary language used only by Microsoft products.  Microsoft now licenses Visual Basic for Applications to those software developers who want to add programmability to their applications.  This will increase Visual Basic prevalence.

Visual Basic is now the universal macro language for the Microsoft Office suite of applications.  The newest version of Word, for instance, has migrated to Visual Basic for Applications.  Other large programmable application, such as Microsoft Project, also use Visual Basic for Applications.

Another important development of the Visual Basic language is the advent of the Visual Basic Scripting Edition (also known as VBScript) for developing Internet-enabled applications.  The capability of Visual Basic to create downloadable ActiveX components and the capability of VBScript to manipulate Internet browsers and Internet documents (HTML documents) suggests Visual Basic will play a major role in the explosion of Internet and intranet application.

This text assumes you have the Standard, Professional, or Enterprise Editions of Visual Basic.  All chapters other than the database chapters can be completed using the Standard Edition of Visual Basic, but you will need the Professional Edition to work with Data Access Objects “Using Data Access Objects.”  Microsoft Office will also need to be installed on your computer.