I couldn’t agree more with David Stevenson’s editorial in the March edition of FoxTalk. Basically he says to the Fox worriers, be Fox warriors instead.
Stop wasting time lamenting the demise of VFP (which we’ve been expecting for the last 3 years now…) and instead get out and use it to make money. I get deflated each time the conversation at a user group or online thread turns to the future of VFP. Here’s my appeal: Why don’t you stop complaining and use your time to make a killer product?
I’m appalled at some of the applications I see demonstrated at UG meetings and conferences. No consistancy, no standards, different fonts, different size buttons all over the place… no wonder clients look at these products and ask ‘what the hell did you write this in?’. Devout Fox zealots that many of us are we reply with all the technical guff about how it does this and that, but really, all a client wants (most of the time) is something that looks half decent and does the job.
(And by the way, if Fox doesn’t do the job please stop trying to convince your client it does – that’s not gonna win you any points – if your clients wants SQL Server as a backend, then give it to them, don’t get into a technology argument over it…)
More on looks… We all know that people DO judge a book by its cover. Don’t fight this, use it to your advantage. I guess this is what I was trying to say at my April UG talk (http://www.svfpug.com.au/assets/2005Apr/vfptoolsapril2005.chm or http://www.svfpug.com.au/assets/2005Apr/index.htm)
If more of us wrote really good looking, intuitive applications and spent less time whining about how MS doesn’t support VFP, then not only would VFP get a better name but we’d be making more money too. Just take a look at Rick’s HTML Help Builder (www.west-wind.com) This is a perfect example of an app that looks good and does a great job. Have you seen Stonefield Query. Another great example. And there are plenty more. If you’ve got a great example then perhaps take up Ken’s request for case studies (http://blogs.msdn.com/klevy/archive/2005/05/19/420005.aspx)
Also, I don’t hear Rick and Doug complaining about MS – I see them using a great tool to make great software (and I expect/hope making great money).
