View Single Post
  #2   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.excel.programming
No Name
 
Posts: n/a
Default Methodology Question

hi,
starting with the form is best. i usually draw it out
with pencil and paper first and list all general
functions. then get user input. this gives you an idea of
how much code you may have to write. and you get ideas
and you work it out on paper first.
thats my opinion.
-----Original Message-----
Greetings,
Prior to learning Excel VBA most of my programming

was in C and
wasn't concerned with GUI interfaces (I am a

mathematician who writes
programs more as an avocation in order to explore various
probabilistic and combinatorial problems). I've turned

to VBA because
I can get functioning code quicker and because I find it

fun to create
animated charts to illustrate the algorithms. Even

though my programs
are for my own consumption, I have a perfectionistic

streak and want
them to have at least a semi-professional look and feel.

Towards this
end I have been gradually increasing my use of user

forms and event
handlers. Mostly I have been adding these *after* the

program is
functioning. As a result of this, my GUI elements seem

to have an
ad-hoc feel about them since they really are a pretty

thin layer over
the "real" code.

I am currently reading the book "Excel VBA -

Professional
Projects" by Duane Birnbaum and have been struck by the

way that he
tends to (after clearly specifying the project and

outlining the
solution) create user forms and custom tool bars

*before* writing the
bulk of the code. Steve Roman's book seems similar. So

my long-winded
question is: which seems to work better, starting with

an interface
and then gradually fleshing out the code behind it, or

coding the core
logic and then creating a graphical front end for it? Is

there some
sort of consensus amoung developers or is this just a

matter of taste?

Thank you for your time.

-John Coleman
.