John,

>>>a vital component of the Visual Studio.
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>Vital would indicate that in VFP's absense, Visual Studio would die. No, VFP is not a vital component of Visual Studio.

What about Jave, Assembler, C, Cobol, Fortran, etc..

You could take VB out of VS and it would still have value I'd think. Or VSS or perhaps some others as well.

Does that mean that the products would become valueless? No, not at all. VB is very valuable but it also does not define VS in and of itself. IOW, I'd postulate that VS is really not much more than an artificial grouping of products that have a common interface and agreement (by virtue of corporate dictate) to work with each other.

IOW, it's just a great way to sell a series of products and to market the company in the process.

I'd guess that VFP being included in VS was probably more driven by MSFT's desire to wean folks away from the language than to promote VFP. I'd think it has been something of a surprise that VFP has continued to be an energetic player in the marketplace of developers. You can surely bet your bottom dollar that had VFP not been a contributing member to MSFT's 'vision' that it wouldn't continue to be there.

For me the glass is half full, not half empty and VFP's inclusion is evidence of its value.

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>>I would suggest that "moving on" should not be an option for anyone. Knowing how to develop in VFP will always be an important skill. You never know where the opportunities lie. Learning VB and (gasp!) VC++ or (shock!) Java are things that we should all consider, not as a focus, but at least be comfortable developing simple apps in those platforms.
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>Your right, it is not an option, it is a foregone requirement...

Sure, and in ten years we'll all be moaning about the demise of VB and the rising star of [???]. I'd think that in this we all agree.

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>someone who can adeptly program in both VFP and VB. To me, that's the best of both worlds, he can creat killer data apps as well as killer processing apps.
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>Yep, that is why I spent so much time learning VB.

Right. I thinklearning VB and by association more of the lower level Windows stuff is vital as well. That, in and of itself, provides no proof of VFP's demise IMO.

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>>That's JMHO: Don't be afraid of the future, move agressively towards it with open eyes and an open mind.
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>Good advice..

Indeed..

Best,

DD