Why can't I use the “Any” as a name in VBA?

Question

While trying to define an Any() function like python\'s, I found that I couldn\'t name anything \"Any\".

Attempting to name a Function, Sub, Const

Answer 1

To get an updated information to this question and comments, Microsoft states on their own page at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/language-reference/error-messages/as-any-is-not-supported-in-declare-statements:

The Any data type was used with Declare statements in Visual Basic 6.0 and earlier versions to permit the use of arguments that could contain any type of data. Visual Basic supports overloading, however, and so makes the Any data type obsolete.

Answer 2

VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is not VB.NET, even though they share the same "Visual Basic" monikor and a similar syntax. (The linked documentation is for VB.NET, not VBA.)

VB6 and VBA in Microsoft Office (eg. Access, Excel) handles Any as a reserved word, and it cannot be used as an identifier:

You might also encounter errors if you use a reserved word to name a control, an object, or a variable. The error messages you receive don't necessarily tell you that a reserved word is the cause of the problem.

In VB.NET, however, there is no problem using Any as a variable name or other identifier:

Dim Any as String = "Hello world!"    'works just fine in VB.NET