Hi firthr,
I started VB coding on version 3 and worked my way up through version 5. I really like writing VB code and overall I like the way the Microsoft product line works. After version 5 (while working towards certifying in version 6) I found myself becoming more and more frustrated in attempting to keep up with becoming proficient in the new releases during that 18 month window between Microsoft releases. With version 7 on the horizon and a promise for a completely new way of writing programs I find myself feeling apathetic. I have seen many of my associates that have been coding VB since the early days feeling the same way.
About 3 years ago, I started working with PeopleSoft (then version 6). I really hated that fact that I was looking at COBOL programs again. It was a cool system for bringing up applications quickly, though. Since then as we have wondered through upgrades to version 7 and version 7.5, I have always been convinced that VB was the better tool. I am starting to have a change of mind after this year's convention, though. Version 8 is a pure Internet application which basically makes it a direct contender with Microsoft's .net strategy. I think that a lot of companies are going to see Version 8 as an attractive alternative to VB apps for the following reasons:
1) The tool is platform independent. Whether you are running PeopleSoft on MVS, Unix, Linux, or NT, it is simply delivering HTML to the client for processing. VB is only running on Microsoft platforms.
2) The same basic techniques for designing menus, panels, tables, and fields has not changed through all of the PeopleSoft versions that I have worked on. There is less investment in retraining every 18 months where as with Microsoft, you are pretty much forced to not only learn new techniques/technologies, but in some cases re-tool (Remember how the accepted db techniques moved from bound controls, to dao, to rdo, to ado, to ole DB).
3) The time to market for web sites designed in PeopleTools is going to be much quicker than with Microsoft related tools. PeopleTools is going to handle a lot of the rudimentary server side problems that you would have to configure yourself in VB. Of course, let me point out the negative point to PeopleTools is that it is much less flexible than VB will allow you to be.
4) Let's not forget the pending law suit and the types of problems that it might cause for Microsoft.
The upper management in my company was impressed with the speed at which applications were developed in earlier verions of PeopleSoft. I think they are going to go hog-wild with version 8. I honestly believe that my organization is going to buy additional PeopleSoft modules to interface with our payroll system, and (in time) will attempt to use PeopleTools to generate web sites in place of using VB.
My final answer to you is that it probably won't hurt to go ahead and give the PeopleSoft a shot. PeopleSoft consultants are still making pretty good money and are in short supply. I think the demand in this market will grow. Don't forget that only entities that have purchased PeopleSoft products can send individuals to training. Universities all over the world are dumping out VB trained programmers every day. You can still dabble in your VB programming. We use programs written in a variety of languages to assist us in managing our PeopleSoft application. There is one other new feature to PeopleSoft version 8 that I forgot to mention. This version allows access to and from interfacing systems in a variety of ways. One method is to use XML to transfer data, and the other method is to expose objects to outside systems using an object oriented language such as JAVA, C++, or VB (COM Objects). You could tell the boss that you want to code the PeopleSoft interfaces thus allowing you to code in VB and still learn PeopleSoft.
Hope this helps.
