>What is the future of VFP?
>
>How long it is going to last?
>
>Please help me

Here is a reply from Ken Levy:

VFP Going Away?' Nonsense
--------------------------
By Ken Levy
Microsoft Consultant

Below is my response to a CompuServe VFOX forum posting asking about the
future of VFP...

[Ed. Note:a Basically, the CompuServe Visual FoxPro Forum member was asking
whether or not MS has anything in writing that he could use to defend his
position that VFP is NOT going away and that VB isn't necessarily the best
way to go for database work and that MS Access isn't necessarily MS's best
front-end.]


What do they want to hear?a I ususally avoid these VFP Dead Threads, but
this time I'll take a Mark McGwire swing at it.

The Good: VFP is not dead.
The Bad:a Microsoft never discusses unannounced products.
The Ugly: Dibert-like managers thinks that not announcing a future product
means it's dead.

To help your situation, I'll list a few things for you to forward to your
Dilbert-like IT/IM group.a And not to evade your last point, I'll clearly
state that this message has a 3-tier architecture: 1) specifically designed
to give you a concrete response to your concerns 2) resolve this issue once
and for all 3) help you go to sleep.

Note:a This message may be re-posted in any similar "Is VFP dead thread?".
==========================================================================

Top 10 replies to a VFP Dead Thread:

10) The Visual FoxPro team at Microsoft is actively working on the next
version of VFP, therefore it is not dead.

9) Microsoft doesn't discuss any future product that is not announced, not
just VFP.a For example, VB6 also recently shipped with VS6, same time as
VFP6.a The is no evidence or statements from Microsoft that shows VB has
any more or any less of a future than VFP.

8) Windows 98 is being phased out.a There will be NT 5.0, then WinCE 3.0.
As far as what Bill Gates said at TechEd last June, Windows will evolve
into NT and CE, 2 version of Windows not 3.a The key word here is evolve,
not upgrade with a new version of the same name.a So Windows 95/98 is being
phased out.a Does this mean you should not install Win 95 or Win 98 now,
just because in the future there will not be a direct upgrade with the same
name?a Obviously the version of WinNT after 5.0 will be some merger of the
evolution of Win98 and WinNT 5.0.a This doesn't mean that Winodws is dead,
right?

7) Does a mechanic not use a certain 16mm wrench because there is a rumor
that future cars will not have 16mm nuts and bolts, and that no tool
manufacturer will be making that wrench in the anymore?a Or does the
mechanic go ahead and use the right tool for the job, now.a And nobody can
give you a valid argument by crying "What about our invenstment in source
code?".a Let me ask this.a Is anyone, that's willing to admit it, running
pure 2.6 compatible FoxPro code in Visual FoxPro 6.0 today?a No.a So to say
that the source code for a VFP 6.0 app will be the same code used in a
business application in 5 years is insane.a If there was a programming
language invented that did everything that VFP/VB/Delphi/PB/C++/Java did
and it was called Visual Pig Latin, deveopers would use it.a Any decision
by someone to not use a particular product because there exists some guess
that the product will be not be upgraded in the future is a sign of someone
who does not understand how software evolves, and should not be making
technical decisions on software development.

6) If VFP6 is a better tool to build a particular type of application than
VB6, then why use VB6?a Some apps are best solved with VFP, some using VB,
and many by using both VFP and VB together.a A non-technical person would
argue something about code investment by chosing a certain language now.
Maybe running VB6 code in some future version of VB will be just some
backward compatible mode, and that much of the VB app would have to be
re-written in order to take advantage of the new VB features.a That's
almost always the case, with any language product by any company.

5) Future apps will be part of the Microsoft Digital Nervous System, and
will be IE/browser client (DHTML/XML), middle tier components
(VFP/VB/J++/etc.), and SQL Server for data store.a Remember that SQL Server
7 will run on Win95/98, and that it's replication features are just the
start.a The future will have SQL Server on most desktops.a Remember that
the DBF data store with VFP code manipulating it is still, and will be in
the future, great for the middle tier (lookups, data-driven logic, etc.),
but is not strategic for a future scalable/secure data store on the server
side.a And remember, VFP is currently the best client product for SQL
Server Microsoft sells, use for either the client or the middle tier.

4) Maybe you should convince them to use Java for developing your database
application.a I'm sure the 3 people in the entire world doing actual
database apps with Java will want you to be the 4th to join their 100% Java
crusade, and maybe you can be the first to build a true cross platform Java
database application with high performance using rapid development
techniques.a I'm sure the 10 UNIX users will apprieciate your efforts, the
8 OS/2 fans cheer you on, the 14 Mac users will honor you with development
achievement awards, the 3 Sun Workstation administrators will install it
for you free of charge, and the 1 network computer user will actually use
it.

3) If the Dilbert folks are very worried about picking a development
platform that will be around in the future for certain, then start coding
your UI, business rules, and database in Assembly Language.a Then you can
go post a message on some Intel forum/newsgroup called "Pentium going
away?" because one of the Dilbert managers heard a rumor about a future
phasing out of the Pentium chip.

2) Maybe you can convince them to simply use Visual Studio and BackOffice
together to build the app, and that you will use the proper components of
each to build the application.a You can have a t-shirt made that says
"Visual Studio" on the front and "BackOffice" on the back, then were a tie
over it just to impress them.

1) You don't have to be a Dead Head to get stoned from a VFP Dead Thread.

Ken Levy
www.classx.com