RE: First Internet application -- WEB400

Brad, I understand and appreciate your position.  As I've grown older,
wiser, and slower (not necessarily in that order), I'm focusing more on the
application part (getting it done right).  I like to tinker and refine; my
solution is to accept what somebody else has done because my mission is
providing applications.

One of the reasons I indicated "eRPG" is a mission-critical book is because
of the education it provides.  There is no question that you need to know
"more" when writing Internet applications because you're not dealing in the
sterile and well-defined environment of green-screen apps running over
twinax.  Were those the "good old days"?  However, the direction of
virtually every software application (application, utility, OS) is to make
it easier to use without requiring more knowledge; look at what WebFacing
does!  Accept it on faith and don't pull the covers off.  Getting through
your book makes anybody reasonably competent and able to rely on (or
critique) somebody else's routines.

However, I suggest that anybody tackling a first Internet application should
experiment with the plumbing and do some bare knuckles programming as
illustrated in your book; you really appreciate DDS after you've been stuck
by not having two NL's after your "Content-type" declaration in your HTML
file.  This is where you'll get an education.  For the rookies: HTML is
another component of your education; no matter which way you go, knowing
HTML will be valuable.

One point I failed to mention is that your approach does give you 100%
control over your environment.  If you're an organized coder, you'll be
okay; if you're disorganized, your Internet programs will become maintenance
nightmares.  Nothing different here, right?

Mel Rothman (the CGIDEV2 author) provides reference source code as well as a
*SRVPGM but if you're going to use his approach, you probably aren't
interested in making source changes.  CGIDEV2 is a labor of love for Mel;
there is no formal IBM support although Mel does answer questions as best he
can.  If you use CGIDEV2, there *may* be a time in the future when you'll
have to support it yourself.  You're supporting your own stuff now, of
course, but don't go to CGIDEV2 only because you think it's fully supported
by IBM.  It may not have IBM's formal support, but it has IBM's knowledge
embodied in it, and I think there is value in that.

Personally, I'm not interested in inventing my own wheel, and that is a
component of my decision (subject to change at any time).

Misunderstandings: you provided excellent explanations in "eRPG".  I just
wanted to make sure I had an excuse if you came back and said, "Hey, you
missed these 18 cool things I described."  The possibility still exists, of
course.

Please let us know when your new book is available!

Thanks,
Reeve

-----Original Message-----
From: web400-admin@midrange.com [mailto:web400-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf
Of Brad Stone
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 4:34 PM
To: web400@midrange.com
Subject: Re: [WEB400] First Internet application

Hi Reeve.  Ok, I'll respond.  ;)

I appreciate the kudos on the first book.  (Second one right
now is getting ready for publishing).

CGIDEV provides a lot of great tools.  My book(s) and web
page provide all the information that these do as well.  I
guess I'm more of a "roll your own" type of guy.  I like to
know what I'm doing when I'm doing it.

That's just me.  I could provide a service program with all
the neat little tools as well, but I'd rather you take the
time to learn what's going on, at a deeper level.  That
makes working with you easier.  And not to mention Mel
already has one out there.  ;)

For example, when I say "What are you outputting for the
HTTP headers?" it's nice when you can reply
"Content-type...." instead of "huh?"  Or if I ask "are you
using QzhbCGIParse or QtmhGetEnv to retrieve the data?"
Again, I'd rather hear the answer than "umm... say who?"

Again, that's just me.  Nothing wrong with using tools that
help you get the job done at all.

I'm not sure which concepts of mine that you may have
misunderstood.  :)

You're right when I say I stand behind eRPG.  It's a great
tool!  And as for Joe and I having a shootout, you missed it
already.  ;)  It was a few months back on the Java List.  We
both respect each other's views and know that not one tool
will fit into the perfect solution for every problem.

I saw posts for this shootout, but missed the original
posts.  Is this the one Ignite has been planning?  If not,
I'd like to simply submit RPGenerationX.com.  :)

Brad
www.bvstools.com

> Brad Stone may (okay, <VBG> will) have comments, and I
> may have
> missed/misunderstood some of his concepts.  His responses
> will, without
> question, add to the value of this discussion.
>

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