NEWS FLASH: FoxPro STILL not dead Can't kill the FOX HAHA 2

[robsuttonjr]

NEWS FLASH: FoxPro STILL not dead Can't kill the FOX HAHA

It's now 2014 and still people are using FoxPro. I landed a job for FoxPro in my own state and within 30 minutes of where I live. So tell me again Java and Microsoft groupies that FoxPro is a dead end career. Ok, yes it is very hard to find jobs in FoxPro. But I just find it funny that someone over 10 years ago told me FoxPro was a dead end. As for me, I plan to use FoxPro til I AM DEAD. When I need to pull data into a cursor massaging data and spitting it out into a CSV, I use FoxPro. Python etc, sure you can do it. Maybe I am just stubborn. Maybe I just love FoxPro like my ex-wife. Can't explain it, just do!

Regards,

Rob

 

[GriffMG]

Good for you

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[Mike Lewis]

Ok, yes it is very hard to find jobs in FoxPro.

And it's also very hard for clients or employers to find FoxPro developers.

I still get calls from companies who have VFP systems in place, who need to have some maintenance or enhancments done, and whose developers or contractors have long since departed. Sometimes they are absolutely desperate to find someone with VFP skills.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[GriffMG]

Won't last forever, we enjoy it while we can though.

I loathe the alternative (c#)

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[Olaf Doschke]

It just depends how you define dead or alive in regard of a software technology. I also still earn my money with VFP, new development is asked to be something eles, though. Partly Sharepoint (esp. for Management) partly .NET. Partly our job is cut off by introducing more standard software packages and reduce the custom tailored application landscape.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[GriffMG]

I seriously doubt the tailored application landscape will ever significantly reduce - I thought
for a long time that companies would stop needing programmers to put together systems tailored or
bespoke for them alone, but thus far I have been proven (fortunately) quite wrong.

Everyone does like to think their business model is unique.



Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Surely standard software packages don't just mean software like Office. If you take SAP there is a lot of customisation done, it's even more expensive.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[GriffMG]

Exactly, the outlook for tailoring and writing new applications is as abundant and
fruitful as it was when I started in dBase II back in the 80s

As you say, SAP needs a load of, very expensive, tailoring for nearly every customer.

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[Mike Lewis]

I went to a conference at which a well-known industry expert stated that: (i) The next generation of high-level languages will de-skill the work of programmers; and (ii) Pre-writen packages are going to become more powerful and more customisable, and many programming jobs will be reduced to "writing parameters".

It did make me start thinking about a career change.

Mind you, that was in 1972. I haven't done anything about it so far.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Nevertheless, if we do customizations, it'll be less and less foxpro. I'm too young to say I'll do this till I die. I could rather do data and software migrations till I die, but that asks for new skills on top of old ones.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[newtofoxpro]

Yes, I am also using.


Microsoft is not supporting the old fpw but my applications are still running. Problem is it does not support 64bit OS. Vfp is still running fine. Vfp's official support end will be Jan'2015 (correct me if I am wrong) Till today, no fear, all win-os supports Vfp. (including 64bit os)

Vfp development stoped. But what if future versions of Windows stop supporting VFP9 ?
Answer is simple. Install win-xp,7,8 and run. But users will accept ? And why they should ? the only reason vfp does not support.


congratulations

 

[robsuttonjr]

Regardless of when Microsoft ends support, there will STILL be people using it FOREVER. That is the point. For those people who REALLY LOVE FOXPRO. They will ALWAYS be able to find work with persistence. They can even SELL it. Why you would sell FoxPro with all the whiz bang products out there is another question and I don't want to touch that. I will use FoxPro until I AM DEAD. I just love it and like a good woman, I will love her forever even if she divorces me. Of course I still use other languages but once again that is another discussion. This is my occasional ode to the Fox. She has outrun the dogs and still persists. She can't be caught and will always find a way to survive. One day, yes, she will be cornered, cold, wet and shivering as the big dogs take her down. I will be dead by then anyway.

Regards,

Rob

 

[mmerlinn]

Like I have repeatedly said, there will be demand for FP & VFP programmers far far into the forseeable future.

Take COBOL for example. COBOL has been "dead" for decades, yet there is still significant demand for COBOL programmers to maintain those legacy systems simply because it is not cost effective to rewrite millions of lines of code without a COMPELLING reason. All of the original COBOL programmers are now dead or retired, so there is demand for a new generation of COBOL programmers.

Same will happen with FP and VFP. Long after all of us are dead, there will still be demand for what we know and a new generation of FP/VFP programmers will take our places. As long as there are computers available that are capable of running FP/VFP, there will be FP/VFP programs running on them.

As for me I am simply too old to even care about any "modern" languages. I won't live long enough to justify the learning curve, especially since FP/VFP does everything I need to do.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

Poor people do not hire employees. If you soak the rich, who are you going to work for?

"We've found by experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding. Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding." - Eric Raymond

 

[robsuttonjr]

The only modern language that is actually enticing to me is Pyhon. It gives me the closest similarity in simplicity and elegance that FoxPro does. While it does not give me the cursors that FoxPro has, it has the command line I crave. Still, I find myself time and time again jumping back to FoxPro to do quick and dirty little tasks with data. Pull some data in, massage it in cursors and spit it out into XLS/CSV format. Fox does this faster than ANY other language. This makes it an everlasting gobstopper application in my arsenal alone. At the end of the day we are measured on speed of completion more than any other factor.

The other thing I do enjoy about FoxPro is that while people say it is not for the web world, they are wrong. I am support a FoxPro legacy application that is using Rick Strahl's Web Connect. I have also worked with FoxWeb. We are using Javascript/Angular on the front pages. If people still talk about FoxPro, use it and love it, it will NEVER DIE. For the mere fact that Microsoft bought FoxPro to bury it, I will persist in keeping it alive. Viva Le FoxPro!

Regards,

Rob

 

[Mike Gagnon]

I am currently testing a 64bit version of Foxpro and it runs fine on Windows 8.1

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[Dan Olsson]

Where did find a 64bit version of Foxpro?

 

[GriffMG]

I was wondering that

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[SBTBILL]

Microsoft keeps changing things. I started relearning VB a couple years ago then out came VB 2012. Have to start over. Looked at Access the same problem. VFP is a great front end for SQL server. It is great for accounting programs. Wish someone would figure a way around MS copyright on the front end. Personally, I think MS is trying hard to shoot itself in the foot. Most of their products are over priced. I use Word Perfect.

Still do a lot of mods for Sage/ACCPAC/SBT Vision Point. We need a modifiable package like that back.

 

[Mike Gagnon]

You have to have connections.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1088xm9&s=8#.VBH4Fel0yHv

And no it is not a fake.


Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[DSummZZZ]

Mike,

You're holding out. That's not very polite!


-Dave Summers-

Even more Fox stuff at:

http://www.dave-summers.net/foxprolinks.htm