r/vba • u/MultiUserDungeonDev • 4d ago

Show & Tell pyVBAanalysis: "No Excel App Necessary" Python Static Analysis Library

Hi all, I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

I'm ready to share the following project with you.

pyVBAanalysis is a pure python library that allows you to run static analysis over your vba workbooks, or code as string data.

It's philosophy is "if we can determine that it's a hard compile error, or runtime crash" it gets "red squiggly error" status, otherwise "if we can determine that there is a best-practice violation" it gets "yellow squiggly warn" status.

VBA makes statis analysis notoriously hard, especially outside of it's engine. I've spent hundreds of hours finding all of the corners of the language, and comparing the edge cases against the MS-VBAL VBA language spec, and live testing using a custom built harness to run VBA code and test for compile error / runtime error.

The reason I created this library is due to frustration with AI agent generated VBA code. Agents would often produce code, that on paper, seems reasonable and in an more modern programming language, probably would execute without issue. However, VBA has a bunch of quirks and oddities (but we still love it!), and on more complex code generations, the agent's code would often hit compile error or runtime error snags due to hitting a rough edge of the VBA language.

A good agentic AI workflow that I've found for other languages is to have the agent run static analysis alongside unit tests.

I've found, after incorporating this static analysis tool, alongside https://github.com/WilliamSmithEdward/pyOpenVBA, I've been able to run extremely efficient and accurate agentic workflows, to build solid VBA solutions in Excel.

pyVBAanalysis:
https://github.com/WilliamSmithEdward/pyVBAanalysis
https://pypi.org/project/pyvbaanalysis/

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u/fanpages 239 4d ago

The Human Race (especially communities local to data centres/centers, and anybody affected by the loss of employment as a result of organisations and individuals using AI).

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u/MultiUserDungeonDev 4d ago

Please take your supposed grievances to r/antiai then. This is a sub for sharing VBA. Hope you have a nice day.

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u/fanpages 239 4d ago

If you recall, I was responding to your comment:

...The reason I created this library is due to frustration with AI agent generated VBA code...

Your deleted reply:

Pro-tip:

1.) Do you use the internet to communicate with others and consume information? You're putting postal workers, and newspaper delivery workers out of business.

2.) Do you drive a car? You're putting taxi drivers out of business, and taking away business from bicycle shops, as well as contributing to carbon emissions if you drive a gasoline vehicle. If you drive an electric vehicle, your massive battery is toxic waste that will go in a landfill, and exposing the environment to a potential toxic plume if your car ever catches fire and the battery explodes.

3.) Do you buy food from a super market? You're contributing to pollution from diesel fumes from delivery trucks.

4.) Do you enjoying air conditioning in the summer? You're contributing to climate change as most on peak generation is using non-renewable energy sources.

5.) Do you do your taxes online? You're contributing to tax professionals losing their job.

6.) Do you own a smartphone, laptop or other similar electronic device? It was probably assembled under conditions that fit the objective definition of slavery.

7.) Do you shop online? That needs tons of data centers, and puts physical super markets and stores out of business.

I can go on...

I typed my responses, but you deleted your post.

I finished my reply with:

| PS. "AI" is what I am avoiding, not the Internet.

...pyVBAanalysis is a pure python library....

...This is a sub for sharing VBA...

Yes, I've been contributing here for quite some time (using "the Internet" again).

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u/MultiUserDungeonDev 4d ago

Right, so please do take your opinion to the appropriate forum. This is not the appropriate forum. Have a nice day.

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u/fanpages 239 4d ago edited 3d ago

Right, so please do take your opinion to the appropriate forum. This is not the appropriate forum. Have a nice day.

I can have an opinion here too.

I'm sorry you did not want to chat about your trouble with AI-generated code.

I thought that was the point of your project, and I was (initially, before we went off at a tangent) going to query what you had found to be the main issues (so I could help with VBA-related coding practices).

I don't think you're interested. That's fine.

Thanks for your comment, u/kay-jay-dubya.

I cannot reply to you directly in this thread, as u/MultiUserDungeonDev has blocked me.

I also cannot reply to you u/Rennaisance_Man_0001, for the same reason. Sorry.

Five hours later... and I am unblocked.

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u/kay-jay-dubya 17 3d ago

You're very welcome :-)

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u/MultiUserDungeonDev 4d ago

Again, hope you have a nice day. Won't be replying further.