Chapter 13

Bug Extermination Techniques

In This Chapter

arrow Defining a bug and why you should squash it

arrow Recognizing types of program bugs you may encounter

arrow Using techniques for debugging your code

arrow Using the VBA built-in debugging tools

If the word bugs conjures up an image of a cartoon rabbit, this chapter can set you straight. Simply put, a bug is an error in your programming. Here I cover the topic of programming bugs — how to identify them and how to wipe them off the face of your module.

Species of Bugs

Welcome to Entomology 101. The term program bug, as you probably know, refers to a problem with software. In other words, if software doesn’t perform as expected, it has a bug. Fact is, all major software programs have bugs — lots of bugs. Excel itself has hundreds (if not thousands) of bugs. Fortunately, the vast majority of these bugs are relatively obscure and appear in only very specific circumstances.

When you write nontrivial VBA programs, your code probably will have bugs. This is a fact of life and not necessarily a reflection of your programming ability. The bugs may ...

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