Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) refers to a programming language and an associated integrated development environment (Visual Basic Editor) where you can write, edit, and debug macros. The Visual Basic Editor is a component that's built into Microsoft Office, Reflection, and other applications. Each application uses the same Visual Basic Editor with its host application objects.

The stand-alone version of Visual Basic uses the same Visual Basic language and programming environment as VBA. However, stand-alone Visual Basic can be used to create executable applications that run directly from the desktop.

A complete language reference for Visual Basic is available from the Help menu in the Visual Basic Editor.