Why am I having trouble using Access?
Microsoft Access is a fantastic product. It facilitates all sorts of tasks, greatly speeding development. Competitive products often require much more work to achieve the same result, and sometimes are unable to duplicate it at all. In the hands of an adept developer , there is almost no limit to what Access can do.
Most people think of Access as a simple database product. After all, it comes packaged with Microsoft Word and Excel. These products are fairly straightforward and easy to use. Why should Access be any different? Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
Although you can use Access “out of the box”, so to speak, to create simple applications using built-in wizards, software written this way should be reserved for personal use only. Business applications, on the other hand, must be bullet-proof. They must incorporate performance, error-handling, security and ergonomics. The development of business software requires a substantial amount of specific knowledge; knowledge that only a skilled Access developer possesses.
Access is a powerful application development environment. Mastery of Access requires the developer to first master its underlying technologies. To be successful, you must first learn…
- Relational database design principles
- Data normalization
- Structured query language (SQL)
- Visual Basic for Applications programming language (VBA)
- Access - what it offers above the other technologies it contains
- The Access, DAO, ADO (et. al.) Object models
- Object-oriented programming (basic knowledge)
- The Access and VBA development environments
- Possibly numerous other technologies, based on your project
The learning curve is measured in years. This is an enormous undertaking, and usually well beyond the degree with which most people wish to get involved.
Don’t despair. If you have begun a project and are in “over your head”, or are about to begin a project, I can help. As a professional Access developer and consultant, I have helped many people in your situation. Contact me for a free, no-obligation phone consultation. I am happy to review your project needs, and help you get on track.
If instead, you are one of those rare individuals that possess the Access gene, and are determined to go it alone, then check out my Recommended Reading List and my Survival Guide.