Alright Scott, time for Rox to jump in so that we get a voice from the Myers & Stauffer Harrisburg office on this too :)

I think that to be a good programmer you got to master some language along the way. Which one is better to Master, who cares - take your pick. I also agree with the point that a good programmer is going to be good in whatever language they choose. AND if I was building house, I would have have framers doing the frame, roofers doing the roof, ect. So the same goes for programmers IMHO. Yeah sure, we've enjoyed the luxury of doing it all in Fox in the past. But I feel those days are just that... in the past. We are already seeing things with all the latest buzznymns that, for instance, VB can do better than VFP despite the fact that yes-VFP can do it too. And as far as knowing more than one language, I think that's a necessity. (and not just because M$ says so, but because how can one really know they are doing something the best possible way if they don't experience more than one language?) Personally, I'm more impressed with someone who has mastered one language and has a solid understanding (note I said understanding, not skill) of the capabilities of other languages.

With that said, he who dabbles is atleast trying to stay ahead of the game in my book. But Mrs. Jack-of-all-trades who claims to know everything equally well hasn't bothered with step 1 of becoming a good programmer - master one language first - is only worth the cost of the fancy paper her resume is printed on. It's programmers like that I affectionately call "hot doggers". Now how's all this reflect on me? Well I once thought I pretty well mastered FPW, I'm still trying to master VFP, and like you I'm dabbling elsewhere just to keep up the times. My thought is if I wait to master VFP before beginning to dabble with other stuff, then I'll never catch up with the changing times.