Re: RPG and Web.. (was Using OO concepts in RPG)

[James Rich <james@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 13 May 2003, Tom Liotta wrote:

> >It's not the place of a programming language to add domain specific
> >functionality into the base language. For example, should RPG have a
> >compound interest BIF? or a set of accounts payable BIF's?


> >But has it? By your evasiveness, can I assume it *still* doesn't
> >have that basic functionality? The Python programmer can easily find
> >the functionality for escaping text in HTML in function cgi.escape()
> >or the functionality for URL encoding with function urllib.quote()
> >(among others).
> >
> >My point is that the CGI RPG programmer is missing some fundamental
> >functionality in the available procedure libraries.  Functionality
> >that programmers in other languages like Java and Perl and Python
> >take for granted in their class libraries. Functionality that's
> >necessary for the majority of CGI programs.

> ...then, for RPG, wouldn't we look to %bif()s for similar functionality?
> or, perhaps better, to system service programs/APIs? I'm not clear
> whether IBM supplies "procedure libraries" that fit the bill for RPG.

No.  Unless I'm mistaken, the cgi.escape() and urllib.quote() functions in
Python are not operators, but function calls.  Python provides a way to
call functions and then someone put together a good function.  But a
%bif() is more operator than function because the compiler writers have to
write it.  To get the same Python functionality, write a cgi.escape()
function for RPG. IOW, cgi.escape() is not the Python equivalent of a
%bif(), why should the RPG version be?

I believe part of Hans' point is (trying not to put words in his mouth
here) that a reason why Python excels for writing web apps is that there
are a lot of functions written that help the web app writer *and those
functions are not operators written by the compiler writers*.  They were
written by several people who needed them and then lumped them in with the
Python distribution.  There is no reason why the same couldn't happen with
RPG (though a set of functions probably wouldn't be distributed with RPG
itself, but rather as a seperate feature).

I think it is the wrong approach to look to the compiler to do what we can
do easily (and maybe better) ourselves.

James Rich