Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet-application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables and a macro programming language called VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). It is a widely used spreadsheet application.

Excel supports programming through Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) which is a subset of Visual Basic. Programmers may write code directly using the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) which resides in a separate window from the spreadsheet. Programming with VBA allows spreadsheet manipulation impossible with standard spreadsheet techniques.

The most common and easiest way to generate VBA code is by using the Macro Recorder. The Macro Recorder records the mouse and keyboard actions of the user and generates VBA code which is then contained within a macro. These actions can they be utilized again by running the macro. The VBA code of the macro can also be edited in the VBE. Certain features such as loop functions and screen prompts by their own properties cannot be recorded, but must be entered into the VBA module directly by the programmer. Macros can be activated using a button using the form menu, and advanced users can employ user prompts to create an interactive program.