Going GAS

Chapter 1. Introduction

Moving from VBA into the world of Google Apps Script (GAS) requires some adjustment of your development and planning approaches. There is not a one-to-one relationship between things you can do in VBA, Apps Script, and JavaScript. Even where one can be articulated, the environmental differences under which they each operate are such that valid approaches in one platform do not necessarily translate into wise or even valid approaches on another.

Note

With advance apologies to purists, for simplicity I refer to these different environments as “platforms.” Even though they don’t really qualify for that description, it will do.

I’ve deliberately divided the code samples into a mixture of languages and extensibility solutions, and of course there is crossover between each item. For example, to write a Google add-on, you have to use Apps Script, which is the JavaScript language with additional Google-specific services. On the other hand, you can write Apps Script without necessarily creating an add-on.

VBA merges similar capabilities to Google Forms, Apps Script, add-on-type user interfaces, and the object model into one platform. You need some or all of the Apps Script–related components to achieve the same thing.

This chapter will describe the platforms covered in this book. Some or all of this material will be evident to those who are already familiar with them, but this foundation will inform future chapters as we contrast the different solutions available ...