VBA

Short answer

Visual Basic for Applications — Autodesk's legacy macro language for AutoCAD. Still supported but no longer the recommended automation path.

VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is the legacy macro language for AutoCAD. Macros are stored in .dvb files and run with the VBARUN command. Autodesk has long signaled VBA is sunset technology — it's still shipped as a separate optional download, and new development should target .NET instead. Older shops with large VBA libraries continue to maintain them, but new marketplace listings are almost entirely LISP or .NET.

Related terms

.NET plugin

A managed assembly (C#/VB.NET DLL) that uses Autodesk's .NET API to add commands and behaviour to AutoCAD or Civil 3D.

AutoLISP

Autodesk's dialect of LISP, built into AutoCAD since 1986, used to write custom commands and automate drawings.