This is very similar to my point of view, OOP is OOP, in theory if you know the design patterns and grasp the concepts, the language is a secondary decision. We all know of course that there are good ways and bad ways to achieve the same result, and that is where knowledge of the language you are using becomes relevant and a distinguishing feature between programmers.

I know that using VFP I can do almost any commercial programming that is needed, and scale out to bigger back ends when I need it.

The adoption of the ASP model works for some applications, but for commercial quality work, it doesn't cut it. You rely on a browser for your front-end presentation? The day will come when the browser does not get installed as it is the route to the Internet and there lurks all sorts of nasty things.

For those who are moving to Java, do remember that there are many large financial institutions who will not allow any form of Java application to be executed on their PC's due to the inherent security risks, and they won't change their minds.

Simon