Hi Cory. I did only a very small project 2 years ago with RealBasic, so I really don't have much experience with it. However, here are RealBasic's best selling points. 1 - All the RAD simplicity & speed of development of VB6, but is cross platform (Windows, Mac & Linux). 2 - OOP development. 3 - No runtimes or external dependencies(no .NET or Java runtime needed, nor VB external DLLs). This means the applications can even be a self contained "portable"; that is you can run them from a USB key, and you don't need to install them. RB is marketed to developers that are already comfortable with the VB6 language & mode of development, and should be suitable for projects that you would build with VB6. It does appear though that RB's 3rd party add-ons and COM support tool market is a significantly smaller market than VB6's own. Hope this helps you Cory. If you do use RB, please update us all on this forum with your findings.

I believe the question was targeted to developers/programmers. I’ve had 15 years IT experience (in various capacities) and my story is kind of amusing. My B.Sc. was in Management with minors in Finance & Systems Analysis. Because overall I had done poorly at Math in high school, I avoided Physics, Computer Science or any of the so called “hard science” subjects like the plague. I did poorly in Math but well in Accounting; while I sucked at Math, I could count money and manage resources well. From my summer jobs and family upbringing, I learnt a lot about customer service, a strong work ethic, and managing resources well. These traits and my accounting background gained me favor with managers in my early jobs. In my 2nd job out of college, I was forcibly promoted laterally into IT management (out of a marketing consultancy position) by my boss; hey, it was either that or be laid off. The thinking by the rest of managers was that I was young, hard working, and had shown a dispensation to learning new skills well, and none of them wanted the dreaded IT position. (Things change too fast in IT for them). The position change was needed quickly, and it would take too long for a new hire to learn the culture & scope of the company. (This was a small, donor funded development agency with a fair amount of influence in the local market; strategic directions could change suddenly if conditions with our major donor changed). My “IT management” role actually meant I was “head cook & bottle washer” for all IT related things, or anything deemed “technical” by management. My role included systems administration, systems analysis, database design, fixing the photocopier, desktop support, changing fuses, … you get the point. I became known as “the IT guy that’s easy to talk to”. I insisted on not speaking IT jargon to my clients; I always answered questions by relating it to business needs and showing how the technology would help profits & corporate goals, and I was strongly customer service driven. The result: management sent me to a few IT short courses, and gave me time off to study IT topics privately. I eventually left that job to work as a senior programmer (Java, C++ & VB6). In summary. I’m primarily self trained, but more importantly, it’s my “soft skills” that really helped me to succeed. :)