>Hi,
>I've been recommended that this is a good place to find experts in Visual Foxpro. My boss has given me the task of evaluating Visual Foxpro for possible new jobs. He's had one or two people say how good it is &, being on the nervous side for using new stuff, he wants me to find out what is bad about it. So I thought I'd try asking the real users of the product. I assume the majority of people here will be able to tell me all sorts of good things, but just like that awful interview question "And now tell me about your worst qualities", I'd like to pose the same question about Visual Foxpro. What is going to make our lives difficult if we chose Visual Foxpro ?

Irene;

A rule of life (I was a Boy Scout - an Eagle Scout at that!) “Be Prepared”. If going for a job interview be ready for any off the wall question. Rehearsal is very important – gaining experience by being ready for the “unexpected”. Too many people do not do his/her homework and I am glad to see you are not one of those! Also, if looking for a job in my area ask “Do you have a business plan”? “How long do you expect to be in business”? Those are .COM specific question – not my favorite subject! I allow myself to ask questions of employers – I like to see how they answer.

“My worst quality is that I have an insatiable appetite for knowledge and in my spare time do a great deal or reading”. You should have at least 20 answers like this – ready at all times. Working in Silicon Valley, I am prepared at all times for what ever may come.

I know of no book that has a title “Learn Visual FoxPro in 24 hours”. Visual Basic has books that claim to teach you that language in 24 hours or 21 days. One thing I would strongly suggest – look into the many fine Visual FoxPro Frameworks – this will reduce your development time tremendously!

If you want to handle data Visual FoxPro is the product to use. You can create one, two or multi tier applications. String handling with VFP is the fastest as is data retrieval. You can easily use VFP as a front end and SQL Server, MSDE, Oracle, etc. as a backend.

Many serious applications are written in Visual FoxPro covering all segments of medical, business and even military events.

Remember that Visual FoxPro 7.0 is a fourth generation language and this is the fourth version of the product! There have been no major revisions between VFP 3.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 only what I would term “enhancements”. This is unlike Visual Basic as an example which will have its first version (VB 7.0) of Object Oriented Programming, as VFP has enjoyed for all its iterations. Also, VB has undergone many changes within the last four versions. This is proof that it is a solution looking for a problem. VB still has not found the answer as it does not comprehend the question!

The biggest problem with Visual FoxPro is that it is Microsoft’s best kept secret! Whenever I am allowed to I will use Visual FoxPro as I know it is the finest development product for any application requiring handling data. It is not only fast but takes less time to develop (using a suitable Framework).

By the way I program in many languages including Visual Basic. I do so only when management or clients give me no choice. I feel that based upon my experience and success I must suggest what development tool is best for a specific application. If a decision is made to use another tool that will cost more that is not a problem for me as I am the one being paid. I do not make business decisions as I leave that up to the demi gods who know all.


Tom