We explain the difference between VB and VBA with table. VB and VBA are software products developed by the well-known company in this business, Microsoft. VB is short for Visual Basic, while VBA stands for Visual Basic Applications. Visual Basic is used by programming beginners, since the application is easy to code. VBA is used in many third-party applications other than Microsoft.
Visual Basic is brought to you by Basics. Uses Component Object Model programming. It was legally accepted in 1991. It is supported by graphical user interfaces. Use the rapid application development module in the GUIs to access databases and create the objects required to configure an application.
Visual Basic applications are also developed by Basics. It was implemented by the event-driven programming language, Visual Basic 6, which is also from Microsoft. It was implemented as a support for Microsoft Office applications and therefore the creator allowed adding user-defined functions. Therefore, applications were allowed to access many more functionalities in one system.
The difference between Visual Basic and Visual Basic Application is that Visual Basic is fully compiled and the functions used are built-in. The Visual Basic application, on the other hand, allows users to add functionality they need to their applications. User-defined functions can be coded using VBA.
Comparison table between VB and VBA (in tabular form)
VB VBA comparison parameter
| Binary compilation | VB can compile the program encoded in it as executable binary. | VBA cannot be compiled into executable binary and you need an external source like Word to do it. |
| DLL | VB can use the dynamic link library and implement component object model programs. | VBA has no provisions for creating programs that can use DLLs. |
| Types of programs | VB can create standalone applications and has the compiler to do it. | VBA cannot create a new application that is standalone. It can only be used in Office applications. |
| Compilation of the program | Visual Basic is fully compiled. | VBA is only partially compiled. To compile a program, an interpreter is required. |
| Velocity | VB quickly executes programs that are compiled into it. | VBA requires time to execute API calls and therefore the time it takes to collect the output is high. |
What is VB?
Visual Basic is the application programming interface developed by Microsoft. It uses an event-driven programming language, which means that the execution of a task is triggered only if some other task linked to it starts executing. The graphical user interface is used to code programs here. So it is easy for the creator to use built-in functionalities.
The basic accesses necessary to run an application are pre-programmed in the available functionalities. The rapid application development module of the GUI provides access to databases. Basic applications can be programmed using only Visual Basic. The updates that followed the initial release allowed users to use the Windows API.
VB supports programmers by providing default attributes and actions that defined these components. The advantage of creating an application using VB is that in the GUI, most of the application’s functionality can be developed visually. It has many tools that can control the tasks in an application. Some of them are buttons and text boxes.
Subroutines and methods are used to identify codes in VB. You can also use the old loop and other executable instruction blocks. Array definitions must specify the upper and lower bounds of the array. VB was developed primarily for scripting. Now it has been superseded by .NET which is also from Microsoft teams.
What is VBA?
Microsoft has also developed Visual Basic for Applications, which includes new features. It introduced user-defined functions that can access the Windows API and other functionalities necessary for a program through DLLs. It supports the functions that a user adds to their application. In addition, it is easy to implement functions such as menus, toolbars and dialog bars.
The downside of VBA is that it can only be functional in applications that come under Microsoft Office. Standalone programs are not supported. So only host apps use it. Code written in Visual Basic Application is compiled into Microsoft Pseudocode that acts as an intermediate language in your host applications.
The host application interacts with VBA through OLE automation. The host application has the DLL and API to route the application to the correct document that is needed. OLE automation of other applications is different and therefore cannot be effective in any other application rather than the host applications.
Officially, there are 11 releases for VBA as of 1993. The oldest version was released in MS Excel, which was a huge success. This led to the release of VBA 4.0 and now the previously released version was VBA 7.1. It is operational in Microsoft Office 2013, 2016 and 2019.
Main differences between VB and VBA
- Visual Basic supports standalone executable programs. Visual Basic for Applications can only be used in host applications such as Microsoft Office.
- VB can encode a program in an executable binary format, whereas VBA needs an external supporting application to do so.
- VB has the provision to create applications that can use dynamic library bindings. VBA can only create programs that can use DLLs present in host applications.
- VB contains a compiler that is fully compiled. VBA is partially compiled and needs an interpreter for support.
- VB can run programs very quickly, whereas VBA takes time to run programs that have many API calls and functions.
Final Thought
Visual Basic is developed by Basic powered by Microsoft. It is an interface that allows you to code programs for third-party applications. Event-based scheduling is used in Visual Basics so that tasks are fired only if other tasks are running. In addition, any tool is present in it for a better layout of the application.
Visual Basic for Applications is used as a VB extension that is developed primarily for Microsoft Office. It has many specialized functionalities that can only be applied using host applications. The compiler is not fully functional and an interpreter is required to run programs using the Visual Basic application.
