[EvanAnderson]

Most Access-based apps turn to shit because they're made by non-developers. The tool itself isn't to blame. I've seen Access used to great success when coupled with scripting to dump schema and code to text files for version control and code review.

[codeulike]

Right, but if you're a developer you might as well use something more developery. Like the selling point of Access was supposed to be that non-coders could use it to knock together a database.

In the late 90s I built some quite big things in Access and promptly regretted it. I guess Access got used for those projects because the organisation already 'owned' it as part of the Office bundle whereas Visual Studio 6 was seen as 'expensive' (I think it was about £500 per developer or something).

But these days that problem would not occur. The days of development tools needing comparatively expensive licences are over.

[EvanAnderson]

> I guess Access got used for those projects because the organisation already 'owned' it...

> The days of development tools needing comparatively expensive licences are over.

That's exactly the motivation I saw for Access being used in the past. I agree, those days are over and that justification for using Access is moot.