VBA or Python? The results are in, and it’s a “no contest”

Thu, 02 Jul 2020

The programmers have spoken when it comes to a choice between these Sage 300 scripting options.

When developing custom scripts for tailoring Sage 300 you have two options:

Old School – VBA macros
New School – Python scripts, executed using Orchid Extender

If you are still sitting on the fence, the following might make your decision easier.

Stack Overflow have just published their 2020 Developer Survey, based on responses from a diverse population of 65,000 programmers. It’s a widely respected pulse-check of the industry, telling us what they love and loathe.

Spoiler alert! What programmers love isn’t VBA.

They say old habits die hard, but the habit of programming in VBA seems to be succumbing with barely a whimper. Python, on the other hand - the scripting language used by Orchid Extender - can still lay claim to being Top of the Pops.

Stack Overflow’s Most Wanted (Python)

This category ranks the languages that active developers most want to start using.

Of the 25 languages listed it was Python 1^st, daylight 2^nd…and VBA trailing home in last place.

Which basket would you rather have your eggs in if you wanted to be sure you could find skilled and passionate software developers for your Sage 300 customizations, today and well into the future?

Most Wanted

Stack Overflow’s Most Dreaded (VBA)

This category ranks the languages that active developers most want to stop using.

VBA comes into its own here, coming 1^st out of 25 (Python was 23^rd), giving VBA a strong claim to be named “top of the flops”.

Most Dreaded

More about Python Developers

While on the subject of Python surveys, we also found this 2019 Python Developers Survey, conducted by the Python Software Foundation and JetBrains, interesting.

It analyses insights of 24,000 Python developers from over 50 different countries to give a picture of the Python community.

A few nuggets:

While 21% use Python mainly for work, a whopping 58% use it for both work and personal projects, emphasising that it really is their language of choice.
The Django Web Framework is used by 73% of Python web developers - including Poplar, the developers of Orchid's Remote Action Service.
While most programmers use multiple languages, 83% of respondents use Python as their primary programming language.