Chris,
I totally agree with you on the syntax cleanliness of BASIC against the cryptic C or C++ and now C#. And I think PowerScript improves on that. I always thought of PowerScript as a mix between C and BASIC. I like better the variable declaration syntax in PowerScript, which is similar to C, than the Dim As (ugh!) syntax in BASIC. But PowerScript doesn't use curly brackets and semicolons like C, making it easier on the eye. And, as you mention, this certainly helps when building business applications.
Microsoft knew that it will be hard for people to change from a familiar language to an unfamiliar one when developing .NET so they first built the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) that gets compiled Just in Time to the CLR (Common Language Runtime), and THEN built two different languages which people could use to program which would generate MSIL code. C# for people that used C and/or C++, and VisualBasic.NET for people who were used to code in BASIC using Visual Basic 6. This way they won’t lose key customers from both bands.
So I don’t believe that switching from PowerScript to C# would be a good idea. PowerScript is one of the competitive advantages of PowerBuilder against other tools. It’s simple to learn, simple to use. And with the help of the IDE it makes object orientation easy to implement.
This and many other features of PowerBuilder should be kept, but enhanced and modernized at the same time, to make it a different and better tool than the competition. I’m not sure the idea of mounting it on Visual Studio will be a good one but let's see what Armeen has to say in the next Webcasts.
Regards,
Ricardo