Mark,

I should add in respect of the 3 month time frame to get comfortable with WinDev - this is not slogging it out 10 hours a day for 3 months. This is spending 2 or 3 hours a day playing around with it, going through the tutorials, testing the numerous and extensive library of examples provided, building simple test apps, etc. i.e. I am assuming one has a day-job and so can only spend a few hours on it per day. If you could spend all day on it, everyday - then I reckon you get comfortable with WinDev in 1 month. That doesn't mean you know everything there is to know, it is simply too extensive for that. But it means you can build an app, compile it, and distribute it.



>Thanks for the feedback, Jos.
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>>>Jos, a general question about the Windev learning curve: As we all know, many specific commands and constructs in VFP have their particular idiosyncracies that programmers must learn over time -- covered in detail by such sources as the Hackers Guides, FoxWiki, and forums such as UT. To what degree, comparatively, does learning WinDev require picking up on such idiosyncrasies?
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>>In my opinion a VFP developer will be productive in WinDev within 3 months or less. By "productive" I mean you will be comfortable in starting a new project, designing your files (tables), designing windows (forms), adding controls, binding them to items (fields), creating output tables (grids), creating reports, writing the code, compiling the exe files, building the setup package for distribution, distributing to clients. 3 months or less in WinDev.
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>>In WebDev and WinDev Mobile - there is some added learning curve which cannot be compared with plain VFP programming since VFP doesn't support those paradigms natively. So one needs to learn about state in a stateless environment, about mobile screens, talking to a back-end server and specifics of Android or iOS, etc. My suggestion is learn WinDev because then you learn the IDE and the language which is common to WebDev and WinDev Mobile.
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>>In specific to your question - idiosyncrasies; yes, well every IDE/language has them, nothing is perfect, and bugs do exist in any tool. For me I was initially a bit overwhelmed with all the panes that appear in the development environment (debugger, project, analysis, search, code, etc., where do I find anything, why are there so many options :) etc. But if you just calm down and look through it slowly it will quickly fall into place.
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>>Get a wide screen - I program on a 1920x1200 screen - get it even bigger if you can because then you can space everything out and diminish the clutter.
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>>The Analysis, which I have written about here, is a paradigm shift for most VFP developers - it describes the tables and initially you dont see how it will be useful but it quickly shows how powerful it is once you start coding.
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>>The language - you will be surprised at just how many function names are the same or similar as in VFP. There are some funnies but you learn them quick enough - just need to check the help (which is incredibly extensive) or post a question in a forum. But WinDev is far more extensive than VFP, far more functions at your disposal. Many things you used to code in VFP you will find a simple function for now. Sometimes you feel you have too much choice and are not sure of what the best way is. Sometimes you do something and are not sure if there is another way which is better - all learning curve but that's also part of the exploration.
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>>Obviously your mind is used to clicking things in certain ways and expecting certain results - in WinDev you might need to click only once, or twice, or some other action which is different. But this is part of learning any new IDE/language tool.
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>>The biggest downside: the main forum for WinDev lacks the UT interface. Plus, the European developers seem (just my 2c opinion) a lot more "well RTFM" rather than like here on the UT where people quickly jump in and answer even the same old boring question again and again. However, if you get stuck you will find the answers but perhaps not as fast as the UT. The forums have their gurus, just like here, they know everything basically, and they will help you (but only after you RTFM :)
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>>On the other hand, there are conferences, sellers of video training materials, PDF training files for purchase, extensive help, unreal intellisense, and there is a forum or two if you need it. There is a European forum and a growing US one and others but I dont visit them. PCSoft support is fantastic too but they also expect you to first RTFM, search the online help before asking simple questions whose answers are easily found. I have asked several times for help and get it within 24 hours.
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>>Spend some money, buy some training materials - you will ramp up your learning speed. Its an investment in you. There is some good stuff from a US outfit and an upcoming conference in Tennessee.
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>>I cannot think of a faster dev tool for a VFP programmer to get up to speed than WinDev. The way you build apps is like VFP, the syntax is like VFP, the construction is like VFP, the idea of cursors and tables and dynamic data binding are all there.