How I got here

I started with FoxBASE+ and followed the product through FoxPro and Visual FoxPro 9. Over the years I have worked directly for clients and through staffing agencies, usually on applications that had already become important to the business.

A large part of the job has always been learning the business from the code: finding where totals are calculated, why a report is trusted, which exception became a permanent rule, and what people do outside the program to finish the work.

The part I still enjoy

Finding out why a system behaves the way it does, then making a change without surprising the people who use it.

How I approach an older application

1. Get a safe working copy and make sure the data can be backed up and restored.

2. Find the business rules in the code, reports, forms, database, and day-to-day workarounds.

3. Decide what should be repaired, connected, rewritten, or retired.

4. Make changes in stages so people can keep doing their jobs.

I prefer a practical answer over a fashionable one. Sometimes the right first step is a small repair. Sometimes it is the beginning of a replacement.

See what I have been building  •  rich@yourfoxprodeveloper.com