What it does
Core purpose
Joel Spolsky, program manager for the Excel team, recounts his first Bill Gates review. Joel got numerous features added e.g. `IDispatch`, `Variant`, `For each` and `With`. It also discusses the dreaded Date bug ported to Excel from Lotus 123.
Where it sits
My First Bill Gates Review belongs to the Information family of VBA community tools. It is listed on the community-maintained awesome-vba index and is actively used by Microsoft Office automation developers.
How to get it
Source location
Full source, documentation, and release notes are maintained at joelonsoftware.com. Treat that URL as the canonical reference — bugs and feature requests live there.
Installation pattern
For a typical GitHub-hosted VBA library: download the .bas, .cls, or .frm files from the repository, then in the VBA editor (Alt + F11) use File → Import File… to bring each module into your project. Save the host document as .xlsm, .accdb, or .docm so macros are retained.
When to use it
Best fit
Reach for My First Bill Gates Review when your automation needs Information capability and you want a peer-reviewed library rather than rolling your own. The awesome-vba curator reviews inclusions for active maintenance and community support.
Alternatives worth evaluating
Before committing to My First Bill Gates Review, browse the other entries in the same Information section of our tools directory — several libraries typically overlap in purpose, and the right pick depends on your Office version, 32- vs 64-bit target, and licensing needs.