Nice blog, however I feel you are something out of touch with reality. I mean xBase as a language is vitale since years.
The point is that Xbase++ for example is used by developers to earn their living, or for inhouse development. So there is not much hype around - to give you some numbers.
Xbase++ customers are coming from more than 140 countries, Alaska Software is getting approx 300 new leads per month, according to our last projection there are more than 1. million end users working with Xbase++ solutions.
Have a look at; www.alaska-software.com/company/references.shtm
you will see large corporations working with Xbase++. Projectgroups with sizes of 30+ developers working fulltime with Xbase++.
So I would say Clipper is by far not dead - it is dead as a product but not as a language.
IMO, the idea of Clipper (or dBase aka Vulcan) to provide an programming abstraction centered around the concepts of a database is well thought. Nantucket added the concept of encapsulation plus codeblocks to Clipper 5.x, this was another great move forward - just imagine .NET people got something similar to codeblocks just 1 or 2 years ago - so the nantucket people have really done they job very well. (Of course the codeblocks are from Lisp but who cares
With Xbase++, Alaska Software has strictly followed that idea, not going deeper into the system - but providing an abstraction of emerging technologies such as threads, object persistence and so on. As of today there is still no tool available in the market which provides that clean and easy to use way of multithreading.
So I think even if Clipper as a product has been dead since more than a decade, the idea of the language is still alive - at least from my point of view which is of course driven by the way of thinking here at Alaska Software.
Regarding, Harbour or xHarbour, well I personally think these projects do contribute to the visibility of the language, but both projects miss momentum and are not innovating.
Just a few comments regards your realization that Clipper as a language is not dead *O*
From the Web
Steffen F. Pirsig holds the position as Chief Technical Officer since having started out with the design and implementation of Xbase++ in Oct. 1994. He also is a co-founder of Alaska Software and President of Alaska Software, Inc.
At present, Steffen is a great deal involved with the D2 Project Group laying out the foundation of new exciting database-technologies for the next major release of the Xbase++ technology-platform. Simultaneously Steffen works with the V2 Team-members on core-technologies
for the forthcoming release of Visual Xbase++ 2.0.
As a frequent speaker at various developer conferences as well as at universities, Steffen manages to combine his passion for database management systems, distributed computing and of course Xbase++, with his love for engaging into shop talks and in-depth discussions while presenting his ideas and visions to an interested audience.
Steffen enjoys good vines, hiking and music of independent labels. He also likes to fly rc-planes, for which he has not found any time in the last 18 months.
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