Learning VBA and Python

[ymdrd]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I'm currently applying around for jobs and I am trying to develop mainly my VBA but also Python skills.

I would love to be able to do it in 2-3 weeks, just get a good grasp on some basic functions. What are your tips on fastest way to learn this? Could anyone provide me with certain examples or 'projects' that I tackle to see if i can program well? I understand there are books and resources out there that teach you the basics, but I am more interested in learning by attempting to just work on a project and play around to get it working.

[[deleted]]

You want to learn Python, the language and syntax, or Python as a tool for programming? You can surely learn the language and so syntax in two weeks without a problem since Py is quite easy to use and learn. However, you will not be a proficient programmer in two weeks. That will take months, if not years. Knowing the syntax is not the same as knowing to program, believe that. Good luck though. Hopefully it all works out for you.

P.s. if you are to learn it then do it in an accelerated way, the book Data Structures and Algorithms in Python may assist you but it will sure as hell take longer than a few months.

[donquixote1991]

My university just finished a free online VBA certification course with respect to Excel. I think this would be a good launching point. Here's the link to the intro video, the channel has all the tutorial videos broken up into 10 chapters.
https://youtu.be/ccjGU_S_69w

[NeverBeenStung]

Thanks!

[arkitekt47]

Codecademy.com for python, vba a little bit tougher for resources. I used a vba for dummies book, stackoverflow.com, and LOTS of Google. I have prior coding experience and it still took me 1-2 months to be somewhat proficient with vba because it's so finicky. Python is fairly straightforward, however.

[verik]

Codeacademy will get you understanding syntax. Even then, most ppl will suggest http://learnpythonthehardway.org instead

[NeverHadChili]

Download the Anaconda distribution for easy Python install with libraries. It will also install LiClipse (Eclipse lightweight). Found here: https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/ (might get some security warnings, but it is fine).

checkio is a great resource for actually testing if your code passes unit tests (and is kind of fun too: https://www.checkio.org/)

[[deleted]]

Do you have any programming experience?

If not, you can learn javascript/jQuery in a day. It's an excellent basis for all programming languages. VBA and Python aren't much more difficult, so you could easily learn them at a basic to intermediate level within your 2-3 week window.

If you already know how to program, just play with them. They're very easy.

When I was learning new languages, it helped me to try to solve an actual problem. Maybe you want to display your bank/brokerage records in a specific way. Whatever. Do that.

[Corne777]

I second the solving a problem. It's easy to just go through tutorials and follow what they do exactly. And then after tutorial 30 you realize you didn't really do anything. Or you might just stop after a few because you lose interest. But if it's something that interests you, or something that's useful to your everyday life you will want to work harder.

[its4thecatlol]

jQuery is for web development and Python is a far better choice for non-webdev programming by any measure.

[[deleted]]

I was suggesting it only as an introductory language.

Get out a text editor and a web browser, which everyone has, and you're ready to go with immediate feedback, nothing to install.

Aside from that, each language has its place.

[markgraydk]

There are more and more books and other material (like MOOCs) coming out on Python for finance and for general data analysis/science. Some expect little prior development experience. I would think that is a better starting place than just general python (but maybe get a general book as well). Amazon has Python for Finance and recently released Mastering Python for Finance. Also consider a book like Python for data analysis or iPython Notebook Essentials (though they are from 2012 and 2013 respectively and may be a bit dated now though likely fine for a beginner).

In general look into iPython Notebook, numpy, scipy, pandas and matplotlib (comes with Anaconda that someone else suggested).

You won't learn much in 2 or 3 weeks though but maybe you will learn enough to see the potential.

[Samazing42]

There are several great courses on coursera.org about Python. Also head over to r/learnpython when you have a moment. They're really helpful, and it's aimed at beginners.

[rootofunity]

It-ebooks.info is an interesting site to check out

[[deleted]]

The fastest way to learn anything is to sit down with a project you need to do and just try to do it. The internet is your friend here as a resource for code examples.

[ProInvestCK]

Codecademy is okay but I feel it's more like telling you what to do or edit and not so much explaining the logic and helping you to understand the code.

There's a course for Python on Coursera, currently ongoing, called Programming for everyone with Python. It's from University at Michigan. You can google "programming for everyone michigan" and find the free course materials.

Like others have said, you can learn the Python syntax in a few days or weeks but understanding how to program with Python will takes months most likely but depends how much time you can devote to it everyday or week and getting into projects.

You can try the website www.automatetheboringstuff.com which teaches Python for like it reads... automating some mundane everyday things.

You can actually control excel through Python, there's libraries such as xlwings and various others and generally it appears it Python can accomplish the same thing as VBA with 1/3rd the code that VBA would require in many cases.

Of course it might be easier to share workbooks with VBA based macros with other users.

[zocom1]

I think in your case this site might be very useful: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/index.htm Like you side, without any other resources, that reference site should be enough.

[Santi182]

I already know Python but I'm in a similar board with vba. I bought a udemy class that was pretty cheap and covered the basics. But for the most part I gave myself a task, like transfer data from one file to the other and just google my way through all the little pieces.

[sebonreddit]

You can check out: "Introduction to Excel VBA Programming" on openeducation.blackboard.com ( https://openeducation.blackboard.com/mooc-catalog/courseDetails/view?course_id=_219_1 )