Re: eRPG - RPG-CGI

[boldt@xxxxxxxxxx]

John wrote:
> P.S.   remember Hans and Barb don't write business apps in RPG,
> Don't think they ever did(? to my knowledge),
> They write  the RPG compiler.

L.S. wrote:
>Yes, that is a great point. They are greatly helpful, but should you
>follow the advice of a scientific programmer when it comes to business
>programming?
>I don't mean this as a slam against them.

No slam taken!

True, Barbara and I aren't business programmers, however,
it is definitely a part of our job to understand business
programming.  That's why we participate in these (and
other) forums.  Furthermore, just a couple of weeks ago I
was with a group of IBMers meeting with a customer in
Houston to discuss how to move their green-screen app to
the web.

But I believe part of our job is to understand more than
just how programming is done on the AS/400.  I believe we
need to understand what the competitive pressures are
elsewhere in order to understand what needs to be done in
the AS/400 arena.

Let me summarize my recent journeys in learning:  About
two years ago, my education plan was two words:  "Learn
Java".  This required me to pick up HTML, which is easy
enough.  But within 4 months, I was also learning Linux.
This led to a few other things:  Perl, CGI, and even some
Apache (among other things).

Sure, Linux and Apache and Perl is a great combination for
web applications.  But then, so is the AS/400.  But quite
frankly, in my opinion, we need good tools like WebSphere
and Net.Data on the AS/400 to compete against solutions
like Linux/Apache/Perl.  CGI programming in RPG just can't
compete in that marketplace.  Forgive me for being blunt,
but that's the way I see the current situation.  And I
don't think I'm not alone in that opinion.

I agree that RPG-CGI is an easy way for programmers with
existing RPG skills to get a web app up and running in the
short term.  However, I also maintain that over the long
term, RPG programmers would be better off learning tools
like WebSphere or Net.Data.  Not to replace RPG, but to be
used in conjunction with RPG.

Cheers!  Hans

Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com


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