>>Yes George, there are FoxPro programmers.
>>
>>Your comment:
>>"Are you a FoxPro programmer", I'd answer, "No, I'm a programmer. I happen to currently be working in FoxPro". Or, to paraphrase JVP, "I am not my tool".
>>
>>
>>Working with Dr. Dave's products since the eighty's. I also realize that there is a new world out there. And VFP has a very respectible role in it.
>
>Yes (me too, started with FoxBASE+ 2.10), and I'd agree that VFP has a "respectible role" in it. I would say, however, that because of the product's strengths, that role is probably best filled on the desktop. While it's important that VFP be able to "play a bit in other sandboxes", nevertheless, it's on the desktop where it can really shine.
>
>In regards to my statement, I stand by it. VFP doesn't make me a good programmer. My abilities at problem solving and system design and implementation, make me a good programmer. As I stated in my original post, Fox was about fifth on the list of languages learned. I was pretty good in those languages too. The statement was basically in response to all the "hand wringing" that goes on about VFP's future. I like the language. It's my language of choice, but if it went away tomorrow, I'd simply pick another tool and go from there.

George,

VFP doesn't make me a good programmer. It allows me to be a good programmer. I doubt that most VFP programmers would be so cavalier about the disappearance of their favorite tool, because there simply is no decent substitute for it, and we're not all so conversant in a multitude of programming environments as you are. There is no easy path for most of us to a comparable mastery of Visual C++, VB, C#, or Java, and there's no quick way to gain more than a decade of experience in yet another major language. I'm not eager to dive into another language for its own sake, nor do I have the time to try out the latest replacement for every Microsoft product I use, unless I want to spend the rest of my life installing and uninstalling software without actually getting any work done. I still find myself marvelling at the great features that were built in the Multics operating system more than 20 years ago, many of which have never been replicated since. Likewise, I'll wager that we won't be seeing the huge intellectual investment that has been put into Visual FoxPro suddenly pop in a new language. If VFP is allowed to die, it will be a monumental waste and a loss to the whole world.

Mike