>As for what to learn today, VB/SQL. I know you posted this in a VFP forum. Still, somebody fresh to the programming ranks, in good conscience, cannot be told to take up VFP. There are only so many hours in the day to learn. One has to make a choice. VB has the biggest upside with respect to finding opportunities..

I have to agree with John here if the person making the career change has the choice. VB is just as bigger market so one is more likely to find a job (at least unless you live in a big city). But it depends an awful lot on how fresh the person is -- as the other posts point out syntax is just one small part of become an application developer. So if the fresh person knows nothing about it at all and finds someone who is willing to give them an opportunity to learn on the job then the fresh person should grab the chance whether it's VB or Java or VFP. (Didn't fresh used to mean "rude" :-)