>In my code camp talks for the RIA framework and silverlight, I show the creation of a complete data driven app in about 7 minutes. I use the EF (4mouse clicks about 15 seconds) to bring in the tables, Domain Services to hook up the data to the client (about 6 mouse clicks - 20 seconds) and then the bulk of the time is setting up the grids and the data form for editing and creating navigation pages.
>
>If y'all would take a serious look at current technology instead of taking a beginner's viewpoint and believing it as gospel, you would see what I'm talking about.
>
>The funny thing is you and 3 other programmers in the world will be using vfp.net.

John --

Hey, no need to get salty about this. I"ve stated many times that I am a beginner (as far as Silverlight and WPF is concerned), so what other viewpoint can I have but that of a beginner?

Dropping into this XAML jungle does knock you off balance when you have to revert from full visual design to figuring out what the heck is a "stackpanel" and how it interfaces with a "grid" and why wouldn't I use "canvas" to position things accurately. The Code-Run-MakeNote-ReCode-ReRun-MakeAnotherNote-ReCode-ReRun-MakeAnotherNote-ReCode-ReRun-MakeAnotherNote-ReCode-ReRun-MakeAnotherNote -process is a major pain in the rear unless one is coming directly from the not so good old days of Fortran 77 programming. Having to compile and run something to see how the UI is shaping up is SO old school that it is not even funny. What were they thinking (or drinking or smoking) up there in Redmond when they released the current version of VS 2008, at least as far as XAML design is concerned? Their hot-shot text editing codewarriors may enjoy using Notepad to do their work, but for us mere mortals out here in the jungle it is a different story alltogether. It KILLS productivity. When I moved from Assembly and Fortran into more visual programming environments I swore I'd never go back. Yet here I am back in the tar pits, at least until the next shiny VS version comes out with its barrage of new concepts and classes and namespaces.

I have to say that I am becoming productive with VS/Silverlight, though, ever so slowly, but I'm not too happy about the pain inflicted on me by this byzantine labyrinth of stuff piled onto this thing.

As for vfp.net, who knows whenever that's going to be out. There have been a lot of promises and occasional bursts of progress, but the thing sure seems buggy and stagnating right now. I'm not counting on being able to do any serious work with that one for a long, long time, if ever.

Pertti