====================================== FoxPro Developers Network of San Diego ====================================== FoxDev TipsLetter #07-01 April, 2007 Website: Editor: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *** SPECIAL EDITION *** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS: * From the Editor Panic In The Streets * Hot Topic: VFP is Dead! (What, Again?) Everything Old is New Again Dan Covill * Administrivia ====================================================================== ====================================================================== FROM THE EDITOR ====================================================================== PANIC IN THE STREETS MS (in the person of Yair Alan Griver) has finally made it official: they do not plan any further development of VFP. Some of you have actually read the announcement, but others have just heard rumors and naturally assumed the worst. The FPDN Board (an august body resembling the US Supreme Court only in the age of its members!) decided this was important enough to take three actions: 1. Barbara Peisch would send all members the link and a summary. 2. I would put out a "Special Edition" mini-newsletter. 3. We would have a formal discussion at the April 12 meeting. If you haven't read the actual announcement yet, then please do so before the meeting. The link is in the next article. As usual, I have an opinion. It follows the announcement. Dan Covill dcovill@san.rr.com ====================================================================== HOT TOPIC ====================================================================== FOXPRO IS DEAD! (WHAT, AGAIN?) (Barbara Peisch already sent a notice to members, but this newsletter has a somewhat wider circulation, so here it is again.) You've probably heard that on March 13, Microsoft announced that there will be no version 10 of VFP. Here's the official link: To summarize, these are the plans: 1. No VFP 10, but VFP 9 supported thru 2015. 2. SP2 for VFP 9 available this summer, with VISTA support. 3. SEDNA will be a free, collaborative add-on, connecting to: a. SQL Server b. .NET c. Various other MS products. We have alloted a special time to discuss this announcement and how it may affect us at our Thursday meeting. If you make your living writing FoxPro, you might want to come! Dan Covill *--------------------------------------------------------------------- EVERYING OLD IS NEW AGAIN by Dan Covill Reading the comments following YAG's announcement (half of which, interestingly enough, were in Spanish) brought Chicken Little to mind. It was either, "Oh, my God! We're all going to be out of work!" or, "I'm leaving Microsoft and rewriting all my applications in PYTHON/JAVA for Linux/OS-X". Come on, folks! While this isn't exactly _good_ news, it's not like we haven't seen it coming for about ten years now. And anyone who's "lost faith in Microsoft" over this has been asleep for a long, long time. Yes, we have a problem in future direction. It's doubtful that we will be programming in VFP in the year 2025. (Okay, I myself won't be programming in _anything_ by then, but you know what I mean. ) But there's no need to rush out and buy a copy of Python, either (actually, it's free). Here's how I see it: 1. This is not a surprise. There is absolutely nothing in the announcement we haven't known about for six months to a year. 2. VFP (with its unique data structure) is the ideal platform for building custom apps for small/medium businesses. Microsoft not only isn't into small business, they don't know anything about it, which is why they never pushed VFP and are only too happy to end it. But in spite of MS marketing efforts, there is a huge installed base of dBASE/FoxPro/VFP apps out there, all running and needing occasional repair or upgrade. And most of the owners are NOT interested in paying you what it would cost to rewrite their apps in .NET. It's taken 20 years to build all those apps, and they won't vanish overnight. I'd guess you'll be able to find VFP work for another ten years at least, even if FoxPro finally stays dead. 3. I think it's entirely possible that, with Microsoft having left the field, more alternatives may appear. dBASE is still around, for example - their website talks about running under VISTA. Ed Leafe and Paul McNett are still working on DABO (which is a VFP clone written in Python). 4. You can't just translate a good VFP app to some other language, because the magic of VFP isn't in the syntax (not that different from BASIC, really), but in the conceptual framework. There IS no other language that treats database fields as linguistic primitives, allowing us to write code that is truly data-centric. So you have to re-design the app with a new set of concepts, and then write it in the new language. That won't be cheap. In January 2006 I ran an item reporting that Visual FoxPro was ranked 20th in the worldwide index of programming languages put out by TIOBE.com. Well, guess what? As of today, VFP has fallen all the way to 22nd! It's selling like hotcakes in China and India. OK, enough. Like Pogo Possum, I advocate creative inaction. Don't panic. Keep on taking good care of your employer/client's VFP systems. You've literally got years before you HAVE to do anything, give it some time to see what pops up. Remember, the first ones to jump ship have the farthest to swim. Dan Covill dcovill@san.rr.com --------------------------Administrivia------------------------------- This newsletter is a service to all FoxPro developers, provided without charge by the FoxPro Developers Network of San Diego (FPDN). Anyone may subscribe (or unsubscribe) at our web site . The link is on the home page. The Resources button on the website will take you to the back issues of the newsletter. The editor (Dan Covill) is solely responsible for the content. E-mail him with YOUR tips, comments, or complaints. Editor: Dan Covill 858-272-2448 dcovill@san.rr.com Board of Directors: Eric Lendvai - President 760-734-4929 eric@elsoftware.com Art Bergquist - Vice Pres 760-740-0428 abergquist@sbcglobal.net Barbara Peisch - Treasurer 760-729-9607 barbara@peisch.com Pete Rios - Secretary prios@eltoroexport.com Claude Nikula - Director 619-615-6318 crndev@verizon.net Dan Covill - Director 858-272-2448 dcovill@san.rr.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------