>if you invest 200 for something that will take you 5 Month to do by yourself the 200 $ are a wise investment
>
>That sums up how I feel about it < s >.

I believe not-spelled out assumptions when of the "investment calculation" are the part problem of trying to get people to buy components. In my calculation it is usually $x for the component itself, the amount of time I usually work for the price of the component to get myself comfortable with it and to realize the worst traps - and usually the same amount of time to create an interface better suited to the framework/programming style used in the app the component is used with.

Most of the time after paying even a small amount of money the perception is "why do I have to program anything ? I PAYED!". If you buy a component or framework assume you will have at least one round of fitting/wrapping ahead of you. It still saves you from creating and first time rewriting the base functionality <bg>, which leaves the time/money saved usually at 80 to 90 percent of the functionality actually used.

But if a programmer expects to write no code at all in the specific area after buying a component, he will never buy a component again after the first experience. If he rationally compares the total time/money complex and expect the following work, he probably will use/buy components. But rationality regularily entering programming time/cost estimates is not something I would bet large sums on <g>.

The above is cubed if you have to get a manager to approve of buying components - they usually only remember the promise of "time saved" and are surprised/angry if any time is spent fitting the component into your app <bg>.

my 0.02 EUR

thomas