Declaring API Calls

You probably know that VBA is not the only programming language that can be used by Windows applications. In fact, there are hundreds of alternatives, including C#, C++, Visual Basic .NET, and others. You can’t use the other languages within an Access application like VBA, but they do show the variety of programming languages available for Windows.

Although the various computer languages offer different ways of doing things, they all share one key feature: they all work on Windows. This is made possible by a layer of software called the Windows Application Programming Interface, or Windows API. The Windows API, supplied by Microsoft, contains thousands of functions for performing tasks such as drawing windows, sending information over networks, and so on.