DevBlog

Ted Roche describes his experience with trying out a Python project. Does this really entice you to use Open Source?

Bill Gates sees the future of software development to change. Developers will do less coding by a factor of five. Visual Studio 2005 will include new modeling tools, code named Whitehorse that will make some of this possible. At first, Whitehorse seems geared to high-end, enterprise-wide solutions. But, that's what people first said about UML too. As VS 2..5 isn't even in beta yet, we'll have to wait and see how Whitehorse turns out. [ADTMag.com]

This link came from a coworker. The story and pictures are both heart breaking and fascinating.

Robert Green tells us that he has met with Wrox and they will relaunch in June.

Former Fox team member Robert Green now is a VB.NET guy on the Visual Studio team. He has a blog if you want to keep up with VB happenings.

In case you missed this, there is a new clause for the SELECT statement that will allow you to query buffered data. Yag talks about it on the VS Data Team blog.

Novell's annual Braindead conference is in full swing here this week. The Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City and the Delta Center just behind it are covered in gigantic red Novell banners and pictures of CNEs with big, smiling faces. If I had thought about it earlier, I would have taken pictures and posted them here for you. Novell has made several announcements. Perhaps the biggest is that Netware will no longer ship as a standalone product. Linux now rules at the big red N. They even rolled out Linus Torvalds himself at the event. Makes me wonder if any SCO people were hovering around. Then there are the CNEs wandering about the streets. Some are alone, others in packs. They look both reenergized after getting the rah-rah cheering from Novell execs and like a deer caught in the headlights after hearing about all the Lunix and Open Source products that are coming.

The Wasatch Front once ranked as the third biggest tech center in the country behind Silicon Valley and the Boston area. Looking at the big guys that have been here, WordImperfect was jetisoned some time ago. SCO will be close behind if it loses its legal battle. That will just leave Novell to continue floundering.

So, what's on the horizon? Intel is supposed to be building a big R&D facility, but I haven't seen any progress. Years ago, Micron built a chip manufacturing facility, then immediately moth balled it. Recently I heard some talk that it will open, but I'll believe that when I see it. When it was built, I predicted that it would never be used.

Just like pretty much anywhere, there are smaller companies around or large companies with small offices. Symantec has a small development shop here. And, or course, 3M. But, it looks like the big guys are gone and will probably never return.

For those of you that read this blog on the web, rather than using an aggregator, you can now get here directly through a subweb. Both http://blog.craigberntson.com and http://foxblog.craigberntson.com will get you here. Also, http://articles.craigberntson.com will get you to my articles listing.

As a Six Sigma Green Belt, I pick up on information about the methodology, especially when it relates to software development. After all, Six Sigma is designed more for manufacturing processes, but many of the tools can be used to improve software development processes. If you're wondering what Six Sigma is or if it can be applied to software development, ADTMag.com has an interview with Christine Tayntor, author of Six Sigma Software Development. The book has mixed reviews on Amazon.com, but I've added it to my reading list for later this year.

I've been monitoring my stats since Ken Levy's newsletter earlier this month mentioned FoxBlog. Web site traffic has been steadily increasing, with this blog getting the most traffic, but my Crystal Reports articles are still getting significant traffic. Last week, web site traffic was at what could be a new high, certainly it was for the past year, at just under 52,000 hits. The UserLand aggegator was the top referrer.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently told reporters that if they wanted quotes from him, they would have to get them from his blog.

Does this mean that blogging is entering the mainstream? You decide.

Thanks to the efforts by Ken Levy, the Powerpoint presentation referred to in my previous post has been updated and now includes some references to VFP. I have some mixed feelings about this. While it's good that VFP got mentioned, the slide deck has been downloaded over 180 times. It makes me wonder how many people will not get the VFP information. It would have been better for MS to include the information from the beginning.

I attended college at Utah State. This is a mid-major college that plays in the Big West conference. For the past six weeks, USU has been ranked by both college coaches and sportswriters as one of the top 25 college teams in the country. Yet, because it is in a mid-major conference, it's hopes of being in the "Big Dance" were smashed yesterday when it became the 66th team in a field of 65. A 25-3 record means nothing. Nationally ranked means nothing. Predictions by many "experts" means nothing. Being in a mid-major conference means everything. It means that to get into the big dance you must win your conference tournament. The joke around Utah is that "March Madness" describes the state of mind of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. So, Utah State is now the favorite to win the second tier conference, the National Invitational Tournament.

What does this have to do with VFP? Like the Aggies, VFP doesn't get much respect. Users applauding it abilities mean nothing. Applications developed in VFP winning awards means nothing. Not being a .NET language means everything. VFP is often ignored, even within Microsoft. The latest snub appears in a PowerPoint presentation titled "Microsoft Programming Languages Roadmap", reportedly designed by Microsoft for use by .NET user groups. The Properties dialog for the slide pack says it was done by Ed Kaim, a Microsoft employee. This presentation should be called "Roadmap for Some of Microsoft's Programming Languages" as VFP is not even mentioned.

So, VFP will always sit among the mid-majors of developer languages. Once in a while, it will get some glory, as Utah State did by being nationally ranked this season for the first time in 30 years. However, the outlook for Utah State is good. In two years, it will join the ranks of the major conferences by becoming a member of the Western Athletic Conference. For VFP to get there, it would need to be a .NET language...a prospect that I don't want to happen. But that is a topic for a different post.

Peer support web site Tek-Tips has qunitupled the number of VFP support forums, going from one to five. Here's the pertinent part of the announcement:

Your existing VFP forum was renamed to:

Microsoft: VFP - General Coding Issues Forum184
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/184

The new VFP forums are:

Microsoft: VFP - Automation, Mail & 3rd Party Svcs Forum1251
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/1251

Microsoft: VFP - Databases, SQL, and Reports Forum1252
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/1252

Microsoft: VFP - Web Related Issues Forum1253
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/1253

Microsoft: VFP - Forms, Classes and Controls Forum1254
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/27/pid/1254>

...or so says Microsoft. [EntNews]

Microsoft has posted a new whitepaper that shows you how to create VFP apps for the Tablet PC. It was written by Mike Stewart of the VFP team.

Are you surprised? Yukon (now officially SQL Server 2005) and Whidbey (now officially Visual Studio .NET 2005) have been delayed until next year.

The Swiss Army USB Flash RAM Knife

On Tuesday, Microsoft released it monthly security patches. One for XP was termed "important". On Wednesday, Microsoft reissued the patch, saying it was critical. [EntNews]

Yeah, it's a spoof...but it's very funny. [Scobelizer]

A number of Microsoft MVPs are maintaining blogs. You can get the list at www.msmvps.com.

Rod Paddock, President of DashPoint and the Editor of CoDe Magazine has published a white paper that shows SQL Server is a better choice than MySQL.

Ken Levy, VS Data Product Manager at Microsoft has published his March VFP newsletter. Lot's of exciting news, including mention of this blog. Here are the highlights:

• FoxTalk lives. FoxTalk 2.0 is being launched in May with new editor David Stevenson
  
• More VFP books coming from a new publisher, FoxToolbox.com
  
• VFP 9.0 is now the official name for Europa. Watch for a public beta in June

Ken announced lots more. Read the entire letter at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/letters/

MS made it known today that the VS Data Team, that includes the VFP team is now blogging (Subscribed).

I'm totally frustrated with trying to learn a Microsoft product. In this case, I'm trying to create a simple form with InfoPath, a new program in Office. I want a simple walkthrough on how to create and use a form. But, none exits. I looked on the InfoPath site. I looked in Knowledgebase. I looked on MSDN. I looked on TechNet. The only thing I found was an article from an MVP that started out promising, but then said that I had to create my own XML schema using Visual Studio. That's not the way to teach people how to use a product, especially a new one. MS needs a single document that explains things step-by-step AND provide a link to download the XML schema or an Access database.

This is not the first time I've been frustrated by Microsoft examples. Their code examples are normally overly complicated, adding code that has nothing to do with the technique they are explaining. That extra code just adds to the confusion.

While trying learn ASP.NET, I visited www.asp.net and went through the tutorials. One started out saying to just create (fill in the blank). Ummm....no...it shouldn't work that way. Explain to me HOW to create the thing, then move on with what you are teaching.

The only thing I remember from my high school journalism class is what is called "The 5 W's and the H". That is, every good news story should answer "Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How". Examples and walkthroughs should to this too. They should be self contained, giving you all you need. The KISS principle also applies: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

So, when you browse Microsoft documentation and are asked if the article was helpful, answer the question honestly. Let MS know when something is wrong or doesn't supply enough information. Eventually, they'll get the message and start producing better examples. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

that I will be the first person, Microsoft or non-Microsoft, to demo the new Europa report features based on the public beta. I'm expecting a packed room at my session at DevEssentials.

Announcements have been made in the last week on two conferences where I will be speaking. At the first, DevEssentials, I will present "Reporting in Visual FoxPro." This will be your first chance to see the great enhancements to the Visual FoxPro 9.0 Report Writer. I believe I will be the first non-MS person to show off the new features. At second conference, Southwest Fox, I will present "Introduction to Object Oriented Programming" and "Using the Windows Event Log from VFP".

In addition to these two conferences, I will speak at the Rocky Mountain Fox User Group in Denver on July 15. My topic there is "Integrating Crystal Reports with Visual FoxPro".

Utah Senator Bob Bennett last week received the RSA Award for Excellence in the Field of Public Policy. Afterwards, he was interviewed by CNet about the Federal Government and computer security.

Microsoft is planning to release a service pack to Visual Studio .NET and the .NET framework later this year, hopefully to coincide with the release of Windows XP, SP2.

The book of the month for March is Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming, ISBN 1558605762, Morgan Kaufmann. This book has been on my list for years and I decided it was time that I read it after meeting Joe last week. It's chock full of information on how to improve your SQL statements and improved your database design. I have heard that this book alone is responsible for the SQL enhancements that have been made to the past couple of versions of VFP to make it more standards compliant.