EnterpriseTenFold: Too good to be true?

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Dramatic changes, new skills, and vested interests

(Again with the disclaimer: I am a former TenFold employee and current TenFold consultant.)

So why am I writing in this forum?
1) It is in my interest to encourage the adoption of TenFold; while this action will increase the ranks of my competitors, there will be an exponentially larger increase in the demand to write new apps.
2) I believe in the TenFold claims (you'll have to take my word on this).
3) I like to see myself in print.
4) I want to encourage healthy discussion about TenFold, even its weaknesses (BTW, please be specific -- "extremely limited" is not a constructive complaint). TenFold listens, and it is good at adding beneficial improvements.
5) I helped to create TenFold, and I want it to succeed.

That last reason brings up an interesting point: As a former SQL coder, I empathize with those who don't like having their skills marginalized by the advance of technology (you'll notice that some posts are getting rather indignant). Take SQL, for example: I can write fairly complex SQL statements straight from my head. It's a non-trivial skill, and I get a great deal of satisfaction from it. However, it takes me about a billion times longer to write a SQL statement than it takes TenFold to render one. (Note, TenFold renders and runs all SQL for you -- you can look at it if you like, but you don't write the SQL for a TenFold app.) And TenFold isn't rendering simple lowest-common-denominator SQL either; it's optimized vendor-specific SQL, complete with novel performance tricks. (The people who invented the TenFold SQL engine are very, very good at SQL.) And this SQL is always correct, even when you change the database design or database vendor.

Great, but here's the rub -- the experts who wrote the SQL engine get to say "look, I now write the world's SQL", while the remaining experts see their competitive advantage evaporate. Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair.

The good news is that, as I posted earlier -- "Making you, the developer, more valuable" -- TenFold provides the opportunity to achieve a much greater competitive advantge. We can also take solace in the fact that, for years to come, companies will have legacy apps. We'll have plenty of opportunity to go old-school as we replace them.

Chris Habecker
Thousand Oaks, CA
cdhanon-zdnet@yahoo.com

Posted by: habecker   Posted on: 05/06/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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