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It seems I beat you by a few years.
I find that new technology shoves you every once in a while... but it always has. I remember when dropping to assembly was a requirement on occasion and optimization a must every time (clock cycles were crucial, memory critical). Eventually, all that faded away. Today, (thankfully) legibility and maintenance are key. If you've been through this one change alone, you understand what a conceptual paradigm shift it represents.
My take regarding personal/professional growth in this field is that, while age blunts some reflexes, dedication and hard-work are fundamental. Sure, many (younger) programmers might program better than you. But commitment will still make your work better than that of most.
Regarding your original question, a couple of years ago I was finally forced to come to a decision regarding cross-platform development. I had decades of experience with C++, C, Pascal, Lisp, what not, but, despite my preferences, I was not satisfied with the solutions available (and some are fine ones, say, Qt). I'd done Java but I never truly liked it. So, I came to the conclusion that, for me, it was C# and Net. It meant changing everything around once again but it has also been for the best.
Wish you well.
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DrBones69 wrote: and I still wonder if I'm keeping up or just staying alive.
Granted, it's easier to say this than to do it, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, but whenever I can, I try to focus on what I'm passionate about, not what some latest craze says I should passionate about. This is particularly true about tech, where things come and go so fast you don't know what to take in and what to ignore. But the thing that remains more or less constant is your own passions and interests. That said, of course there are times when something hits the industry that I end up saying, wow, I really want to learn that. That happened a lot in my 20's and 30's, in 40's less so, and in my 50's now, most "new" things are yawners. 
Marc
Latest Article - Merkle Trees
Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny
Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
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Same here. Microsoft has also large set of tools for doing anything you might need (ASP.NET, WCF, etc.) and seamlessly integrates other support tools (GIT, SVN, Xamarin, etc.) Everything mostly works and can be depended upon. 
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C# with WPF. I really like how simple and quick WPF can be for simple GUI projects yet still powerful enough to handle the complex ones. C# offers powerful database frameworks like (P)LINQ and EF (Entity). As for my specific set of tools, that's ever-changing. Every language, framework, or extension has its advantages and drawbacks. Learn what you enjoy that satisfies deficiencies in your tool set.
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Hi Jon!
Thank you for your feedback and your knowledge. You have hit the nail on the head by saying, "As for my specific set of tools, that's ever-changing. Every language, framework, or extension has its advantages and drawbacks.". I am wanting as many members as possible to share their thoughts and you have just said exactly the phrase that I was expecting, but not as quick as I anticipated. Anyway, what have you learned today, if anything, that will be in all of your coding? (Not asking for secrets lol)
Thanks Jon!
-Randy
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As an OCD sufferer, everything for me has to be black or white/yes or no, so I prefer to write out my programs in full in binary in a text editor.
The only "extra" functionality I need in the text editor is the ability to sort, because when I'm finished writing a program, I insist on sorting all those messy ones and zeros numerically -- and I get annoyed if this doesn't result in the same number of pages of zeros as are used for the ones, so I make up the difference by adding instances of the character that came up short.
The programs work perfectly well, so I don't see any need to invest in any new-fangled UIs, frameworks, etc.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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That explains a lot!
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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I always knew there was something special about you, something that tugged on my heartstrings, and made me want to give you drugs !
cheers, Bill
«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal
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This drug[^] has been proven effective, so go for it!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Damn you!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Quote: ones and zeros
Why both? The Romans built an empire that lasted for centuries, using a numerical system that did not have a zero. You should try to get away without a zero as well. Use only ones! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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That's just silly! The programs wouldn't work!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I believe you 
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I'll be.... a text editor?
I always thought that real programmers used "copy con"
"Abstract art? A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered."
Al Capp
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EDLIN and SORT are all the development environment I need.
And a coffee machine, of course. No environment is complete without a coffee machine.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I've been in the industry for over 30 years now and have a variety of tool as needed. I started with FORTran and FMS on a VAX/VMS platform and from there, migrated to some Windows development.
However, most of my Windows development, then and now, has been back end processing: services, data extract/manipulation processing, etc. So, I started using the tools made available and in common use in the areas I was in. That tended to be VB6, then VB.NET.
I know, flameproof suit on, but, if it works for what I need...
So.. to that extent, use what you are comfortable with that will do the job.
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Visual Basic was one of the best things that happened to IT. The language was (and still is) easy to learn, easy to read, implemented drag-n-drop GUI building well, and simplified event-driven programming. Back in the 90's it was a game changer, a radical departure from every technology then on the market.
I was a C programmer (among other things) and moved into C++ and Java ... got out quickly. OTOH, VB made business programming quick and efficient -- and VB built a market share that I don't believe any other language has equaled.
Is there crap VB code out in the wild? Yup. There's also crap C++, Java, C#, etc. The problem is rarely the language, it's the person who doesn't know how to program with maintainability as part of the design process. I roll my eyes when I read rants against VB ... the language has been unsupported for over 15 years yet a recent survey listed it as a the 11th most popular language according to one site. [I recall other sites rank VB between 11 and 18.] Take all language rankings with a 5# bag of salt, as they all focus on specific criteria.
Top 100 Most Popular Programming Languages Of 2016[^]
Dropping support for VB6 was possibly the most bone-headed move Microsoft made, one that stands out in a sea of bone-headed moves. It cost them a lot of faithful users of their products.
Do I recommend learning VB6 now? Only for programming VBA. Knowing VB/VBA is useful in useful in writing Excel functions which beat the crap out of chaining worksheet functions together. My MS Word Normal.dotm contains macros I wrote in the 90's, still useful today. [Visual Basic is alive and well behind the scenes in Microsoft Office, as well as other products.]
These days I'm doing C# winforms and MVC with Oracle and SQL Server. Why? That is what the employer needs. I learn the languages that have market share, which ensures I have a steady paycheck. I like my job and love programming, but the languages and technologies are simply a means to an end. In themselves they rank low in importance.
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VB.net is the latest version. Ok it doesn't resemble VB6 very much but it can do almost everything that C# can.
My only gripe with VB6 is that it didn't encourage properly structured or DRY programming.
I have recently been working with some folk who learned their coding skills with VB6. They created some gargantuan functions with literally hundreds of lines of code. It took a great deal of pursasion to get them to start making functions that do only one thing and never repeat themselves.
We're philosophical about power outages here. A.C. come, A.C. go.
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I dabbled briefly in VB.NET then switched to C#. Due to the lack of backwards compatibility and apparent indifference from Microsoft, VB.NET lost the traction provided by the VB6 crowd and C# seemed to be the better route. Hindsight has proven that correct (IMO). I have no problems with VB.NET; however, in my area it doesn't have market share so I went in a different direction.
A don't know that any mainstream language truly "encourages" good structured programming. While I agree that some VB folks didn't understand that writing an entire 10,000 line program in one function is a bad idea ... I've run into equally bizarre things in the OO world. Twenty years ago I recall one of the OO evangelists writing about how OO fixed all the problems of procedural programming ... while I was trying to debug OO code whose original author seemed to have a truly nonsensical take on what OO is.
Good programming skills need to be instilled early in the learning process; then they become second nature.
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C#
That's all the answer you need - now go create...
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C++ is my language of choice, simply because it's the only language that can get me true satisfaction.
Besides, I like Qt more than anything .net has to offer.
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Hi!
My choice would be Embarcadero Delphi.
I know it costs a lot more than C#, so if price is an issue go with that.
My preferred combo would be:
* Delphi
* DevExpress
* VCL Skins
For the client and
* RemObjects
For the server.
If you only need simple DB access, then ditch RemObjects.
My reasons for this choice are:
- Polish: DevExpress gives your app an incredibly clean look. As an alternative, VCL skins allow you to skin your apps natively in a number of ways
- Cross Platform: most code can be shared between Windows and Mac. Mac requires the use of FireMonkey for the GUI, but if you are smart that is not very painful
- App tethering: your apps can communicate very simply across a network or using BlueTooth
- Android/iOS package: the Pro version allows you to buy an optional pack to do mobile apps. App tethering works with this as well, so you could use your phone and update your app automatically
- No runtimes: you deploy a single exe that works across the board, even if .NET isn't installed
- Wealth of high quality 3rd party components
- Modern language: generics, anonymous functions, etc. Yeah, it's still catching up a bit, but it all works.
- DB engines that you can embed: a number of companies make RDBMS systems that you can embed in your program. An example of this would be NexusDB, whose DCU only version is completely free. Keep in mind that NexusDB is also capable of having a whole DB in memory and - if you buy the C/S version - you can even have it <b>in memory on a remote server</b>.
The flexibility, raw power and freedom is just a sight to behold.
A free starter version exists but I don't think it lets you do databases. Worth playing with though.
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I use RPG because it's a natural Business language with integrated record level database access. The variation I use is a Visual Studio Plug in language from ASNA.
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