EGL and RPG - The Fastest Path to the Future

[Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There's been some discussion both on and off the list about what EGL 
bodes for the future of the platform and specifically RPG.  I've been 
pretty clear in my opinion that EGL may be the best thing to happen to 
RPG since the display file, but I've heard a lot of muttering that "IBM 
is going to kill RPG".

To find the truth, you have to recognize that IBM isn't a single 
monolithic entity.  While there is definitely a segment of the EGL team 
that believes EGL can do anything RPG can do, another segment 
understands full well that there are billions of lines of RPG code out 
there - the last thing I read was that we're actually *adding* four 
billion lines a year - and that a fundamental requirement of efficient 
modernization involves taking advantage of that legacy code... and those 
legacy programmers!

If you'd like to see a discussion of this issue that falls more in line 
with this view of modernization, go here:

http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/i5/february08/qa/19749p1.aspx

Joe