studying VBA
As I have extra time on my hand, my friend and I are going to study for VBA. I'm not in IB yet but from what I heard, mastering VBA is going to give me tons of advantage. For those of you studied, which studying method do you recommend?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Advanced modelling in finance using Excel and VBA - Jackson and Staunton
It's a pretty decent place to get started.
What is it that you think VBA will give you 'tons of advantage' in?
Maybe not 'tons of advantage' but I hope it would help me to get into IBD. :)
btw, thanks for the recommendation!
after working in IBD, i mean to agree VBA is useful.
After working in IBD and knowing VBA, I'll tell you that it is not useful on the job, and it is certainly not going to get you INTO IBD. Nobody will even ask about that skill. You really think somebody will look at the section on your resume and say wow you know VBA? Can you write me a macro to make all my cells blue? HOly shit you're hired.
Please, do everyone a favour and refrain from posting mindless and dense comments. If you took a second to read his posts (mainly his second), no where did he mention that it will be his "hook". Now, if there were two candidates, ceteris paribus, they would definitely choose the candidate with VBA skills, because it DOES help, regardless of what you think.
Uhh...NO SHIT if two candidates were EXACTLY the same except the vba then it would help. When the fuck does that happen? Never.
If you are TIED for the position, then clearly you could have done better with your time preparing for the interview, not studying VBA.
So please do everyone a favour and refrain from posting mindless and dense comments.
VBA isn't going to be tremendously advantageous to the firm, but to you. You'll save a solid 2 years of your life macroing through VBA over your career, for sure.
VBA IS useful period
Dim ms as Worksheet For Each ms in ThisWorkbook.Worksheets ms.range("a1","iv65535").Interior.ColorIndex = 5
Next
Can I have a job now please, Mr White?
Best VBA Tutorial Online??? (Originally Posted: 08/01/2011)
Am looking for beginner/advanced VBA tutorials...haven't really found anything except youtube.
www.mrexcel.com
just start doing stuff and look at the resources there. Combining that with vba for dummies i became pretty competent in zippo time at all.
Yah I agree. Start with VBA for Dummies. I won't post it here but look around and there's torrents for the book online-should be super simple to find.
After that you can basically go online and start looking at more advanced and useful programming techniques to complement the basics you learned in the book.
VBA's and Macro in excel (Originally Posted: 06/14/2011)
does anyone have any good resources for learning about VBA's and Macros in excel?
I have an interview for a securitization group and want to have a intro idea about it. Thanks
Lynda Tutorials has some decent videos for VBA; you could also try looking through free ebooks on Scribd. I"ll save you the trouble >> http://www.scribd.com/search?query=vba+for+dummies
VBA is best learned in a class atmosphere. The guidebooks are ok. I have the Excel Programming one (the blue one, I have the old 2007 edition, now it's on its 3rd edition). The VBA for Dummies book is good too, very different structure as far as how it goes about teaching, so they complement each other well.
If you're the only one that knows VBA in the office, expect to do something in VBA every time something is needed in VBA. That's how it was when I was back in PE. Not very fun if you don't love coding (I recognize VBA can be very useful, but it's not fun).
I agree with Alex. It's better to learn VBA in class. VBA programming can be very complicated with absolutely 0 programming background and people will just give up in mid way. You can certainly learn it on you own, but I'd say class assignments would push you harder to learn what's needed for the job. Some VBA assignments can easily burn you like 50 hours or so. But in a work environment, if you can do VBA programming, it adds a lot of values.
(Btw, I know VBA. I don't hate it but I don't love it either.)
I taught myself using the excel VBA help..of course..I had an idea of what I wanted to do and knew how to search. If you don't have a programming background, or an idea of how programming works, yes..class environment.
Just wondering what kind of class you are referring to? Like in a college class or some sort of weekend class?
haha at this point I doubt either is an option for me anyway but just wondering whats out there...
I'm sure there is an online course..Do you have any experience with coding? You can always buy a VBA book. Worst case scenario buy a VisualBasic book and download a free developer program from Microsoft. It's basically (no pun intended) the same thing.
specifically in relation to trading though, the recruiters have mentioned VBA and Macro experience. for those purposes would the "dummy" books be of any help?
They can be. Some people will just never understand programming and some will. Some need books some don't. One really cant say what you need. What's your skill level with regards to any type of programming? Can you at least read code?
If you can at least read code then all you have to do is do a yahoo search and look up what you want. For example, type in VBA code to calculate NPV. Then you can insert it into a module and tweak the code.
Agree with both dondraper85 and mikebrady.
Make sure you program something related to finance. That's huge. At an interview, interviewers might ask you what kind of VBA programs you did. If you could say something like "Oh, I used VBA to program an option pricing model." That will be impressive. =^) By the way, I doubt anyone one would ever ask you in details of how you program this and that at an interview unless the interviewer programs all day long. But at least, you have to know some basic stuff and say "Oh, I'm not sure how to do this, but I can easily use macro to record the codes and make modifications."
You could also learn by just recording macros and then jumping into VBA afterwords.
Visual Basic (Originally Posted: 11/12/2006)
I'm going to work in structured finance after finishing up b-school this year, and I'm wondering if it's at all worthwhile to learn Visual Basic. Any financial engineers or others out there who know this software? Is it useful? Is it ever needed in structuring jobs on wall st?
I've heard that VBA (i.e. Visual Basic for Applications such as excel) is used in structured finance, but I've never worked there so I can't say for certain.
Could you give more details on how you landed the job, what it is specifically, etc.?
I'm trying very hard to break into this field (coming from undergrad) and trying to figure out what the best way is.
I'm a senior in college who will be heading to a BB this summer, so I can't speak from banking experience. But this past summer I interned at a technical consulting firm where I picked up VBA. They used it to do a lot of process analysis, but I've found it to be useful in just about all my excel work.
It's not THAT hard to pick up, although I have had some programing in the past (I'm an Engineering and Economics double major). VBA can be especially helpful when you're working with very large spreadsheets. I wouldn't spend a TON of time trying to learn it, but if you have the opportunity it's a nice tool to have in your back pocket. It can save you hours of work filling in and analyzing spreadsheets in just about any job.
You could learn VB.net for free, there's an express edition that is free out there... (but this is only if you want to develop applications) http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/
VBA is used strictly for Microsoft Office. VBA is not compatible with VB.net, so it will soon be obsolete in the next version of Office. I wouldn't bother with it, you should learn Visual Studio Tools for Applications which will replace VBA. Here's a link... http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/extend/vsta/default.aspx
Wasting Time~
I'm not sure what you mean when you say that VBA will be obsolete in the next version of Office. You can download the new version of Office (Beta 2007) from microsoft's website and it still includes a VBA Editor. I've also done quite a bit of VBA programing in Excel 2007 so I can personally say that it is still included in the next version of Office.
While VSTO is being integrated with Excel and Word it is not necessarily replacing VBA. VSTO provides increased access to web services and increased security measures. VBA on the other hand provides more customization self-contained within the Office aplication. VSTO will also continue to be developed by Microsoft (Microsoft stopped developing VBA a while ago).
So while it is true that VSTO is being integrated with the new Office, VBA is also being included. I've included a few links below:
http://searchdomino.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid4_gci118… http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/sample/DOMIS/update/2006/06jun/060…
VBA is like the old Visual Basic 6.0, people still use it but it's becoming old outdated software. I think VBA is also based off VB 6.0.
VSTO is like VB.net, it's where directions are heading into. So I would look into VSTO since that's where things are heading. Office 2007 might still have support for VBA but I'll bet the next version of Office after 2007 wont.
Thanks everyone. I'm going to work at one of the BB's after graduating from b-school this spring. I haven't been assigned to a specific group within the structured finance pool, but I'm aiming at either structured credit or structured bonds. I'm thinking about taking a class this spring that is co-offered with the financial engineering dept and requires VBA--basically a class on pricing derivatives using statistical models. As far as how I got the job, the usual: lots of informationals, trying to get good grades, working my ass off over the summer and a fair amount of luck.
Some of the analysts I met at Morgan Stanley used VBA in their models. Of course these kids were super nerdy quants (stanford, MIT, engineering, etc)....I doubt it will be very helpful at the Associate level.
Old thread- any changes with VBA or VSTO (never heard of it) in the newest versions of Office?
VBA is still alive and well in 2010...
Books for Excel/VBA (Originally Posted: 03/25/2010)
Anybody have any experience with these books?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470997443/ref=sib_rdr_dp
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0470044012/ref=sib_dp_ptu#reader-page
I bought the Walkenbach book last summer. I highly recommend it. It's very easy to understand and goes into a fair amount of detail.
Sorry, don't know anything about the other book.
Best way to learn visual basic? (Originally Posted: 07/06/2007)
Thanks
take a class.
i'm serious. unless your the sort of guy who loves computers (which since you dont know VB, I sorta doubt), trying to learn it yourself using O'Reilly books is going to be like pulling teeth
Thanks.
The best way to learn is to play around with it. Go to some website teaching you the basics and then start playing around with it.
Speaking of VB, I'm having trouble making this Excel macro, mainly cuz I'm pretty new to VBA. All I need it to do is delete any rows that are exactly identical between two different spreadsheets. Kudos to anyone who can figure it out
dharma416 this is not a forum for vba code. Please direct your questions to www.ozgrid.com.
VBA help (Originally Posted: 08/25/2008)
Does anybody know of any good finance specific vba/macro modeling resources? Particularly free online content.
Basically I'm looking to write some code to read a .txt trading log, then create following summary statistics.
Thanks,
I did a lot of VBA coding in a past internship, and found that after learning the basics (I assume you are familiar with VBA - if not get a book + a CD with examples, best way to learn it), Google is your friend. I never found one central website that would answer all questions, but every technical problem I had would have been discussed several times in random forums.
Without further checking the code, this one seems to be helpful if you tweak it a bit: http://www.exceluser.com/explore/questions/vba_textcols.htm.
If you get started with the coding and get stuck shoot me a PM.
learning visual basic (Originally Posted: 08/09/2007)
Just wondering if anyone got recommendations as to how one can learn visual basic - any texts or just using help in the software? Thanks!
In IBD discussion? Sure, got lots of of recommendations on learning it, because it's extraordinarily useful when you're cranking Excel product at 3 in the morning on a Sunday night.
definitely, definitely the dummies book. It's very helpful, it didn't make me an expert but I for sure got a handle on it, and used it almost daily. Also, build up basic models, and then try to make them simpler by recording macros. Then read the code, to try to get an idea of what it means.
is it important to know visual basic if you are doing ibanking?
Visual Basic is certainly not important for banking. However, it can act as a little side benefit but for the most part, it doesn't save you much time.
If you have previous programming experience, Visual Basic will be very easy to learn. It obviously has very specific things about it (such as cell references and all of the excel capabilities), but it really isn't much different than Java or C++.
My advice for learning would be to use the "Record Macro" feature and do a few basic things (clicking on cells, moving up and down, formatting). Then go back and look at the code to see how things are written. Once you get the hang of it you can start writing your own code.
excel and vba (Originally Posted: 01/15/2010)
Do you know any recommended reading book for forthcoming summer interns that have not been exposed to excel, vba and powerpoint? is there any free website where we can learn these rapidly and effectively?
thanks
Voluptatibus quis accusantium consequuntur ex qui maxime. Expedita et voluptas quos temporibus. Voluptas eos culpa rerum voluptas magnam sint culpa natus. Voluptatibus sapiente delectus qui quae consequatur cum animi dolorem.
Optio architecto laborum dolorem. Dolor provident quam id magni sequi. Iusto cupiditate voluptas aut quam est omnis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Rem sed blanditiis voluptas sapiente libero quibusdam voluptate. Voluptatem non delectus deserunt amet aliquid molestiae ut. Architecto omnis dolor autem impedit harum.
Porro ad laboriosam et. Est quibusdam cumque et odio aut ut consequatur explicabo. Ullam deleniti quod ipsam repudiandae corporis omnis. Beatae error nihil est. Et dicta voluptatem odit neque. Error quo reiciendis eaque earum.
Dolor enim fuga voluptatem tenetur dignissimos fuga similique. Et aut non omnis incidunt earum praesentium voluptates. Voluptas rerum et odit est commodi accusamus. Possimus ut possimus quas deserunt. Sunt quidem nam et veniam et quasi molestiae eum. Dolores tempora et dolorum possimus aut qui ut.
Et aut sit fugiat vitae omnis qui sit repellendus. Qui placeat dolores exercitationem hic consequatur. Commodi neque eveniet molestias error perferendis nihil est. Placeat et maxime repellendus odit placeat inventore. Est est et porro. Aut repellat officia debitis.
Aut officia ipsum maxime rerum qui doloribus ad at. Recusandae quis rem architecto repellat in expedita.