>>>>>I have to go along with Tom here. The thought that code generators will replace programmers has been around for a LONG time, like since the early 1980s. Yet software development remains one of the most in-demand professions. (The tricky bit is that the specific skills that are in demand keep changing).
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>>>>Mike, See hanks reply, This is not about code generators, but an application framework that will take away the pain we currently have from dealing with all kinds of 3rd party add ons. Jos Pols wrote a message about this a few days ago (though his remarks apply to windev). the framework deals with the stuff we have to program manually for e.g. security, encryption, code signing, cross platform etc. Its much more productive if those matters are provided out of the box without have to scramble your own.
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>>>Hmm. Cross platform support implies producing platform specific code - how do you do that other than with a code generator? And, without updates the framework can only support existing platforms.....
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>>Not necessarily. Remember when Fox was cross platform? It did the same thing it does now (and what dot net also does) - produced p-code and had platform specific runtimes.
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>True to a point. I guess I wasn't thinking of it in that light. But getting runnable code is only half the battle - if we're talking cross-platform for desktop/mobile/tablet/etc then the whole UI layout must be rejigged.

I am really glad I don't have to grapple with that issue, at least not now. MSDN Magazine has had a fair amount of coverage lately of UI approaches that span desktops, tables, and smartphones and they sound like a bear to me. In fact I am concerned that any kind of common code base is suboptimal for all the hardware types. A software camel! (If you haven't heard that one, a camel is a horse designed by a committee).