>With that being said, I have to agree with Jeff that a large number of >corporate IT managers and other decisionmakers have been seduced into >Microsoft's grandiose VB client/server architecture, sometimes to their >detriment.

True. But the Gartner Group is another svengali in this business. I can 't tell you how many times I have hard an IT manager say, we'll go with that because the Gartner Group gives it a thumbs up. All without seeing things first-hand to see how it would mesh in his scenario. Pretty lame.

>I've said it before and I'll say it again: VFP standalone will fit most small >to moderate systems needs. VFP to SQL Server is a heckuva strong contender >for any size of 2-tier application.

John, this is a credible statement in light of what we know about VFP. This is not the same kind of statement Jeff trotted out.


>It is the VB world who tend to swallow MS propoganda hook, line, and sinker >and turn what used to be $20,000 simple VFP development projects into $100,000 >complex VB nightmares.

John, its the fiddler, not the fiddle. I would probably put the illness on people here. Being one who codes VFP and VB, I feel pretty confident that I could deliver most apps I do in VFP in VB. I am dead serious here. Yes, there are things that are a bitch in VB, but that would not stop me from delivering the app.



>I have seen VFP developers cede a project over to a different environment when >VFP doesn't fit....I have also seen, virtually 100% of the time, VB developers >not know how to analyze a project properly and be unable to consider anything >BUT a VB solution or -- at best -- Access.

Once again, analysis is the dominion of people, not tools.


>There is a serious lack of professional standards in the VB world and MS is >only making it worse by diluting the certification standards, as I've pointed >out in another thread.

Any less than VFP or in any other dev community????

>I have awed VB developers with VFP; rarely has a VB person awed me with a VB >application...ESPECIALLY *any* solution involving serious data processing.

Define for me serious data processing. How do you quantify this????


>John, you have to admit that --- as a group --- VB developers are a >contemptable lot. There are excellent VB developers and excellent VB >solutions but I find them to be the exception.

Hate to say it, but there are a lot of parallels between the VFP and VB communities - most notable of which is the religion folks feel toward their tool. I am not saying this is good or bad - it just is.

>Now, John, be real honest with me here: Who would you rather have analyze an >enterprise solution: A 3-year VB programmer/analyst, a 3-year SQL Server DBA, >or a 3-year VFP developer? I'll make it easy by not even including >PowerBuilder, SAP R/3, or Delphi developers.


None of the above. I would like to have somebody who has a solid track-record at analysis, design, and delivery of enterprise solutions. You see, the tool means nothing to me and by itself, is a poor judge of what a developer can or cannot do. I got out of this trap a long time ago.