Kevin

>It just strikes me as funny that so many people are building applications with it, and yet we have a very small minority of people who are so convinced that it's insufficient for building apps. I guess 98% of the world can't be right. <s>

Smiley aside, its a shame that you seemingly do not acknowledge the very real fear that the "very small minority of people" you refer to likely feel.

For a great many VFP developers, its not so easy to make the transition to .Net quite as easily as it might be. When I was developing/consulting independently, I was always having to consider billable hours and was always working towards finding the next job to keep the family fed. There never seemed to be enough time to do extra study. If there was additional time, I could fill it writing billable code. I could hardly find the time to really study VFP9's new features like the enhanced report writer, CAs or the GDI+ stuff.

Was I worried about becoming "obsolete"? Hell, yes! The fear of a declining VFP market, MS not upgrading VFP (further affecting perception of the product) etc., was always on my mind.

Nowadays, I spend all my time in C#. My VFP framework expertise was acknowledged and as a result, I have helped to develop a C# framework that utilises the Domain model concept with data access via sprocs, ORM mappers and business objects. I am working with SQL server, Biztalk and K2.net (a workflow management service). With the exception of SQL server, in my solo Fox work, the kind of clients I had access to would never have got me near these kind of tools and technologies. The main change for me was getting a job porting a VFP/SQL server application to C#.Net/SQL server for a large company. As soon as I became a "corporate developer" and went on the payroll, things changed dramatically for me. For a start, I was and still am sat next to a C# "Guru" who for some strange reason decided to take me under his wing and teach me what I needed to know. I was sent on training courses by the company. I spend days, weeks and sometimes months studying technoligies, concepts and methodologies. There is no way I could have done this in my previous Fox consultant "life".

So, I am very happy and really enjoying my developing in .Net and the other enterprise tools I mentioned above. However, I am in this position because of a pretty lucky break and a team of really great developers who have helped me in a way that never would have happened when I was flying solo.

So, I don't suppose my previous position was unique and I can clearly see why many VFP developers may be very touchy about their favourite tool and will jump to defend it at all costs. Its human nature, plain and simple.

Best