>I've seen many VB solutions that do an excellent job of manipulating large amounts of data and scale quite well in a COM environment (using SQL Server). My current project involves developing a VB COM component that iterates through thousands of records from a SQL Server database and does updates and inserts on a large scale. It performs well and hasn't "choked" yet. Plus, it's easier to deploy on IIS than a VFP component because it doesn't require any addtional runtimes and supporting DLL's (already built in to IIS). I also enjoy not having to implement the DBC on my web server (as I would with VFP) and just use straight ADO (I know you can use ADO with VFP but I don't think it's as well integrated as with VB). In terms of the front end, I'm using ASP which is very powerful, fast and user friendly.

Thats what I mean- I see VB pushing batch data to browser pages and batch updates to SQL. But I have not seen a mult-user, real time, businees application transacting order line items with sales, inventory and statements. When it gets down to the detail of high speed real time transactions in a business - I see VFP. I do see VB doing what you say it does - batching data to a SQl server or batching data to ASP. IIS and SQL backends are not needed by businees under 100M/year. In house and vertical market accounting is a big world - VB is too limited for real world accounting in most shops under a 100M. These shops could care less about how the desktop engine intereacts with IIS - and they don't want the cost of SQL. There are some cheap SQL's coming out. But VB don't have the same cursor (or record pointers) VFP does. Maybe good for flat file pushes to a page or transfering from one SQL table to another - but not good for desktop detail for in house, multi-user order processing or accounting.

Again - I have never seen a multi-user VB - custom inhouse desktop management support or accounting system. I heard of them. I've seen em in a box when clients gave up on them. Sure, it's native and does does ISS easy - but these standalone projects only want to know when it will be done. You can't sell a project to a standalone business based on the interoprability of the desktop engine or technical BS - At least not the ones I've had to fortune to invent and develop. Most of the world is small shop stuff. If big shops need viewers to look at a 'batched' set of SQL data -great. If they wan't to sell phone cards over the internet - great. If they can afford (and management doesn't get fired) because something more demanding or detailed is never finished, great!

The vast majority of oppertunities want complicated accounting integrations, on time - on budget and working (w/o SQL) or we - the independent contractors, get fired.