4GL as Service

Microsoft has created the term "software-as-service," primarily to denote the difference between their traditional software business and the new wave of offering similar functionality either via a web browser or a remote server hosted in the Internet cloud. I recently took a look at Apex, the latest offering from SalesForce.com web services space, and couldn't help but notice the parallel between Apex and 4GLs of the early/mid 90s. Only this time, the 4GL is running in a remote, hosted environment, and not on a server the developer has to own. Way cool. Looking forward to giving Apex a try in the coming days/weeks and see how flexible and capable it is.