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Visual FoxPro as a front end tool

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by sasif 2 views

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We are in negotiation with a consultant who intends to use Microsoft's SQL Server as the back end and Visual FoxPro as the front end for developing a customized application on our NT 4.0 LAN for our organization. I would like to get a feedback aboutthe usage of Visual FoxPro as a development tool. Some of my peers have expressed their fears that by using Visual FoxPro we would be embarking upon an "outdated" technology track. Please advise.

15 replies

by sri_sanand

Hi
Unless there is some factor, economical or technical that makes Visual Foxpro exclusive for your need, i don't recommend it.
Visual Basic is much more Powerful & Versatile.
Bye

by pluto66

I've done large scale systems with VFP5/6 and for the last three years have been using VB exclusively for large-scale multi-tier systems and hands-down you get more bang for your buck with VB. There's tons more support for this product that VFP - steer clear is my advice.

by brian.kiser

I've been a FoxPro/Visual FoxPro developer since 1992, including front-end work with SQL Server. I've used VB only briefly, for a 6-month period. My opinion is that VFP outperforms VB in all database-related activities, and also has some other development advantages, such as more flexible grids. VFP is also fully object-oriented, and VB is not. VB does not have inheritance, although I've heard it will in version 7.

Both VFP and VB have full ADO capabilities. VB developers can create Active X components, while VFP developers cannot. They can, however, use Active X components created in other languages.

Performance-wise, VFP is the clear winner in my book. VB does have more support, as there are more VB developers/projects out there.

VFP is not antequated quite yet, as it's still part of the Visual Studio and is every bit as up to date as VB or VC++. Many developers are not familar enough with FoxPro to be comfortable using it, as thus tend to dismiss it as a "lesser" language. This is a mistake. It's the best kept secret in programming, in my opinion.

Brian

by jfherring

Whatever. As far as database development goes, VFP easily outranks VB. Plus, if you have looked at Visual Studio 6 or .NET, you'll see that it is not outdated, nor will it ever be.

by darrellblackhawk

sri_sanand@usa.net:

I know this is an old thread, but, I couldn't help posting to it.

To say VB is more powerful and versatile is to admit ignorance of the facts. ( no insult intended )

I can program circles around anything written in VB inhalf the time.

I do like VB and admit somethings are easier to accomplish - I use it all the time - but the fact remains... Nothing runs like a fox :-)

by sygas1000

Visual Foxpro is the most powerful tool, in fact, is the tool of the "programmers that do it for living" as microsoft says. Think about it as the best combination between Acces and VB; powerful data management and powerful language in one package. In fact, VFP is a real Object oriented language ( VB is not ), and supports HTML,XML,COM+. Soon VFP 8.0 will be shipping! ( Out of date? ) I don't think so.

by zylot

Brian is dead center with his reply. Being quite apt at both VFP, VC++ and VB for a number of years, I use both to resolve problems.
Most any solutions involving a database, VFP is the clear choice for the front-end. VB and VC++ is great for making the tools and gadgets (Actve-X Conrtols and DLLs and such) that I use in the VFP projects. Anyone not in favor of using VFP, especially for a SQL7 database, either has a clear misunderstanding of the power of VFP, or has never used VFP.
Integration of the various tools and third party products available for the VFP developer, further enhance its' power and flexibility. There are very few front-end tasks I can think of where VFP would not be the best solution. IMHO, I concur with Brian about VFP being the best kept secret in programming. It'll be around for a long time.

Tom

by jeff

I'm sorry, but you are asking the totally wrong question.
Has this person done work for you in the past?
Was the work completed on time and to your satisfation?
Was this person recommended by someone you trust?
If the answer is yes then you should be more concerend with the price vs timeline then what tool a developer wants to use.

Just my 2cents

Jeff

by meerab

I was wondering if you already made up your mind about choosing the correct tool??

In my oppinion VFP 6 has a better performance than VB 6. I haven't used the .NET versions, so I'm not very sure about those..

Good luck

Bas

by walkabout

Your question is months old. If the issue is not moot, I urge you to review the information available to you on Microsoft's MSDN web site re: Visual FoxPro. It is not an outdated technology by any means. It is a 32 bit Windows application. In fact, it is the first of Microsoft's developer products that is object oriented.
It is a data centric language and database engine with tons of capabilities built in.
it makes an excellent front end for SQL Server, or Oracle. It integrates well with and is an excellent automation tool for MS Office products. It runs well on NT and other flavors of Windows. It is used by government and industry world wide.

by johnbaerg

VFP 7 will be released in a week or two; it has superior XML capabilities, better Intellisense than VB or C++, and is picking up speed. VFP 8.0 is already on the drawing board.

VB is dying. In 1 year, its usage has gone from 27.8% to 20.8%. Read this:
http://www.advisor.com/Articles.nsf/aid/SMITT221.

My organization has >20 client-server apps running on LAN/WAN, using 21 class libraries, and 1000 users. The best combination is VFP on the front-end, and SQL Server on the back-end.

by igorl

We are using VFP as front-end and also to build middle-tier COM objects. We also use VFP to build HTML pages on the fly. The database is SQL Server. This is the best tool on the market for this job: extremely fast local data processing language, very fast string pocessing language (to generate HTML and XML), true object orineted implementation, etc. We implemented many projects for clients, and are about to release several Web-based products: Arnica WebReport, Arnica UnifiedLogon, Arnica EmailServer. Arnica EnterpriseCalendar, Arnica WebPortal, and others. They all have 100% web interface, all implemented by using VFP on the middle tie and SQL Server database on a backend. Visit our web site if you would like to get more information: www.ArnicaCorp.com.

Igor.

by marksisco

I have been using VB to produce small, medium, and corporate apps for 6 years. We are being forced to use VFP because a consultant is more comfortable with it then VB. The VPF 8 interface is really awkward, no inteli-sense built in like VB. Also when ever you load a project in VFP you have to type in commands in order for it to run, for example SET DEFAULT TO c:\whatever. That is just silly. When you load a VB project it runs right from the get go. Also a really silly thing about VFP it has a prompt function like VB. Nice for prompting for user input like email address or client number, etc. The VFP version does not allow you to copy and paste into the input box, as does VB. My first instinct was what a loser VFP is, windows has supported copy and paste since the beginning of time (windows 2.0), yet VFP does not support copy and paste. Also it seems the the VFP apps are slower in execution then VB apps. VB deals directly with MDAC, while VFP goes thru its data base functions then talks to MDAC. I think that time wise 1 hour VB time produces more real work then 10 hours of VFP time. Also on the question as to finding talent to help in support, there may be 1 VFP for every 100 VB programmers. Another note about VFP, if you have an exe that talks to database and you add a field to the SQL table for some reason the VFP app will break, where as the VB app will not. It seems that every time a field or table change is made, even if the field may not be relevant to the app, you must recompile the VFP app. The VB app will still work.

by schavlytko

FoxPro much better than VB... Even in the new release of the VB.NET MS is trying to copy some functionality from it's the best product MS Visual FoxPro... It sounds strange, isn't it?

The best choice - Visual FoxPro...

Good luck!

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