Roxanne,

>PMFJI Walter but I just cant resist, your last couple of responses seem to lack common sense... perhaps I'm just not grasping where your trying to go with this.

Hmmm, are you referring to the insulting thread ? Nope, this has nothing to do with this. I'm trying to figure out what VB has to offer to me or any other VFP programmer. JVP has repeatly said that VFP should look outside the VFP box, I like to know why.

>>>If people are concerned about this, and if people think this is a possibility, all the more reason why people would want to look at other tools..
>>
>>Yep, this is one possiblity, the other is gaining as much info on VFPs future as you can get an guess there will be a VFP 8.
>
>Considering that "gaining as much info on VFPs future" is something we can not control, we can only get as much info as M$ cares to divulge... this remark seems quite silly to me. I dont about others but I'm am not about to hang my career on a "guess". Learning another development tool is like an insurance policy in my opinion. And the fact that M$ has delayed VS7 gives all of us ample time to cover another base in the game of technology so that we not left with holding onto a guess.

Well, that's a wise standpoint that I do fully support, but given the concerns and the ever repeating 'VFP is dead' issue seems to me that there are people who hang their carreer on a guess. What about all those managers that have to make a decisions based on biased information? I truly believe there are people who switch languages because they're affraid VFP will be discontinued. IMO this certainly is NOT a wise decision, because the future of VFP has never been so bright before. But seeing all those concerned messages here once in a while lets me draw this conclusion. I hope i'm wrong...

>>>Only to the people that did not take time to learn...
>>
>>I think the word 'take' could easely replaced by 'have'. As we both know there are so much technologies and new products we already must/should learn you could easely make a full job out of learning. I think most of us are really selective about what is worth learning.
>
>If a developer waits until they "have" the time and dont "make" or "take" the time to learn another skill, that developer stands absolutely no chance of holding any ground in a field that changes as rapidly as ours. These are the developers that are typically stuck in the proverbial box and are blind to the fact that their relevant experience is dripping like sand in an hourglass. These are the same sort of developers who preach about product or tool they've never used and/or never seen the latest version yet feel they know enough about the product to make informed decisions. The same type of developers that get left in the dust in this dog-eat-dog job market and yet have no clue how sheltered and limited their skill set really is.

I think you're right a 100% however, the 'take','make' and 'have' standpoints are all relative. How much learning do you need to update your skills, In which area you want/need to expand your knowledge ? As development of new technologies and product go so fast as they do today, you'll have to choose what you'll (need to) study and how much time you can affort to do this.

>>This has never become quite clear to me. What exact things can be done in VB and cannot be done in VFP and is really worth the cost ?
>
>Technical issues aside, one REALLY BIG thing can be accomplished with VB skills and not VFP skills - marketability of a developer's skills and experience to a much larger and faster growing job market. IOW - better job security.

Personally I'm not too concerned about this one. Sure the're are less VFP jobs than VB jobs, but personally i've got loads of work. About ten years ago they said that COBOL programmers should learn another language because it was a dying language (if not dead already). Seeing the salary of a COBOL programmer today, I would gladly switch to COBOL if it was for the money.

>>I agree, but if you're a hardcore VFP developer looking for more absolute power, C/C++ might be the tool you're looking for.
>
>I dont know about you but I get so much power in VFP that "power" doesnt count as something I look for when I want to expand my billable skills.

Hmmm. Personally I don't have the impression that VB will increase my billable skills. There are loads of personally unexplored area's in VFP which could increase my billable skills. Untill now I don't have the feeling that i've reached horizon of what is possible in VFP. I'd rather be an expert in one tool than medium rare in two different.

Walter,