There you go,we can go back to a page a sub.
Can anyone else come up with an example (other than the constants declaration)?

Dick – why not use callbyname? (xl 2k + I think?)
AS well as saving code it makes your code less brittle

Personally though I’d be tempted to put a recordset in the class so its clients could use all that ado good stuff. In fact I’d probably use a variant array.

Totally agree on business application based naming and clear interfaces, I’d much rather this than comments.
cheers
Simon

The best code I write (and I admit it isn’t always great) is the stuff I scribbled down on paper on the train on the way home (its 1:30 hrs each way and the old batteries don’t always last). When I go back and read it in the morning it is just lists of subs to fill up with code. Every sub is easy to write they are each so simple.

Oh and my wife says your name sounds a bit like “Bite the Watering Can” in Russian Kus-Leika.
And I am not going to mention what I thought I might find at a web site called Dicks-Blog.

Luckily I took the gamble !

Right idea but why use paper and pseudo code? Also, there’s no need to commit prematurely to “smallest bits you can think of”

I start with totally functional “pseudo code” and flesh out the code as required. For example start with

This way I can not only compile but can also execute the code at any time. Essentially, the actual code also serves as a prototype. In addition, by using the proper data structures and using procedures (subs/functions) that reflect the requirements of the business/scientific application I am addressing, the code is also self-documented. Finally, since each procedure always has a clearly defined interface (I almost never use globals) I can guarantee that a change local to a procedure will require no testing of any other code.

It also makes it easy to change code that ain’t broke. For example, I might implement a quick and dirty procedure (say a bubble sort).

Then, if there is a need I will replace the code with a more sophisticated approach, say a quicksort. Since the SortData code uses only local variables and the argument(s) passed to it, I don’t have to test any other code.

I like it, but I break it all the time. Recently I was populating a class module with data from adodb recordset. I had about 40 lines that looked like

I couldn’t keep all 40 lines on a screen.

The problems are these (some already mentioned). 1) The code works. 2) The finished (working) product is extremely satisfying and you tend to forget the pain and hard work it took to get there. 3) The quality of the commenting isn’t sufficient. 4) Several key parts of the code were worked on the reduce them to their barest possible components, when something more wordy and self explanatory would have been better, meaning I’ve created some nice but impenetrable ‘black holes’. (I don’t like redundant code one bit but it’s a fine line between ‘terse’ and ‘what the hell?’ when you read it back months later).

Which is why I’m grateful for this blog. I can write some O.k. code when motivated. Just about get my head round variable scope and ByRef or ByVal (though probably not employ either correctly). I don’t use Functions only Subs (cos’ I don’t know any better). There are a couple of practicle tips in this thread for more strategic/architectural code design. More please.

These are good. How about writing the pseudo code in the IDE? This way, the pseudo code acts as the initial comments in the sub.

Write pseudo code on paper first and break your problem up into the smallest bits you can think of.
Start writing in VBA by typing up a list of the names of the subs you wanted to build
Go back and describe them at the top of each sub in some green.
Try to keep yours subs looking like a paragraph and never write a chorus.

Never ever write more than a screen’s worth of code in any sub if it is bigger then chop it in to three or more.

It sounds boring but you don’t need much more than this to start writing nice code.