
Rubberduck – COM add-in that enables IDE features in the Visual Basic Editor - pcr910303
http://rubberduckvba.com/
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pcdoodle
I use VB6 all the time. Need to quickly get some custom serial port thingy
written? VB6. Want to make a quick window that hosts 4 embedded VLC COM
instances to watch RTSP camera streams? VB6. My craziest use case out in the
field was: Wall mounting a spare mouse and soldering two wires to the left
button inside, running a wire back to the office with the computer playing
pandora and then writing a quick app to turn down the wave out and un mute Mic
In so the restaurant owner make announcements over the loudspeakers. The code
was already out there for the mixer, I just had to add a line for monitoring
the parallel port and adjust the sliders in someone elses code.

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vb6sp6
I have used vb6 professionally for 20+ years. It is still a really powerful
tool for getting things done.

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gadders
I got this approved at a previous employer when I was writing some VBA/Jira
automation. It's.. OK. I found it slowed down my environment quite a bit and
was unstable. I stopped using it eventually.

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jahlqvis
I've had the same experience with RubberDuck. MZ-tools
([https://www.mztools.com/](https://www.mztools.com/)) on the other hand is a
VBA tool I couldn't work without. Doesn't slow the IDE down and stable as a
rock.

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gadders
Thanks, I'll give that a try. I think RubberDuck shows a lot of potential, it
just needs the speed and stability improved now.

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gitgud
> _" Bring the VBE into this century!"_

This actually gave me goosebumps...

Are there many modern _use-cases_ for Visual Basic? All I can think of is
horrible scripting code for Excel, Word and AutoCAD

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pjc50
You wouldn't believe how much business value flows through Excel spreadsheets.

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im3w1l
Name already in use for those USB hack-tools.

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tssva
Name already in use for Ernie's bath toy.

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rob74
I had to actually google "Visual Basic Editor" to find out why it was a thing
people are still using in this century, and found out that it's the editor for
VBA macros in MS-Office applications. So "Visual Basic Editor" is a bit of a
misnomer...

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Renaud
It's a bit reductive to call it "the editor for VBA macros", it's like calling
Visual Studio a "template editor" because you get a set of template files when
you create a new project.

The purpose of VBE is to build applications, it's an IDE. Add-ins like
Rubberduck are actually very useful in extending the capabilities of VBE and
there are still millions of people using VBA every day to solve business
problems.

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jablan
Most people associate Visual Basic with, well, Visual Basic (as in VB6 or
VB.net), not with VBA. Even the top voted comment refers to VB6. "VBA editor"
instead of "VB editor" would solve the confusion I guess.

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Bishonen88
Add Javascript to VBA and allow users to use WebStorm or VS and we'd have
something great. I gave Rubberduck a go a few years ago and was rather
underwhelmed when compared to a real IDE (which is understandable, as
Rubberducks creators don't have $$$ behind them)

