PMFJI, but I concur with Bob, I think it is really important to have a solid understanding of the SQL language. Time invested in learning this will pay itself back very quickly, because you can often execute a single SQL query which would otherwise take dozens of lines of other kinds of code (like VFP code). SQL is probably one of the more "cross-platform" things you can learn, if you know SQL, then you have at least the basis for creating queries for any SQL back-end database including Oracle, MS SQL-Server, MySQL or PostGreSQL on Unix/Linux, and of course for querying good old FoxPro tables, not to mention Access (gulp) tables.

VFP is such a great glue program, it talks to ANYTHING, creates terrific user interfaces and has great third-party support and great developer tools. The Hentzenwerke books describe all kinds of things from a Visual FoxPro perspective. Frankly, "if you can't find it in those books....you don't need to do it." (Ok, I'm being flippant, but damn nearly).

I would also work with at least one larger back-end database, such as those named above, (not necessarily SQL-Server, but SQL-Server is a good choice).

Be sure you are aware of some of the wonderful third-party tools for VFP, including the West Wind tools, the Stonefield Database Tools, the CodeMine framework (and other frameworks). These give you orders-of-magnitude kinds of leverage, you can do things in minutes that took hours, and hours that took days.

Finally, I would investigate some other examples of "middleware" such as Allaire, (whoops, I mean Macromedia's) ColdFusion. CF gives you enormous bang for the buck and, like VFP, talks to anything and is moving closer and closer toward Java. It also will interface well with your javascript experience as lots of the CF form controls are basically javascript controls.


-- Larry