[WEB400] Re: XML, RPG, Web Services, Joe = Holy War was ->RE: Re: Modify the IE Browser

["Buck" <buck.calabro@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 2. RPG-CGI is great if all you have is RPG
>     knowledge in your department.

There is a subtle danger that needs to be considered in any development
organisation.  The above statement touches on it, but I think a bit of
amplification may help.  We're really back to the 'proper tool for the job'
maxim.  And I mean this not solely in regards to XML or RPG, but to
development in general.  To wit: If I write my requirements to meet my
knowledge base, my requirements may not be as strong as if I had written
them to meet my business needs.

The point I'm trying to get across is subtle but important, so I'll poke at
it from a different angle.  If I'm trying to do TIFF image transformation to
JPG and all I know is RPG, and I write my requirements so that an RPG guy
like me can get the job done, I may not have written a very good spec, much
less the code.  The end result may be very fragile and verydifficult to
maintain or even use, with many interrelated steps (failure possibilities.)

I think that RPG as a CGI language is a pretty interesting thing, and that
it may in fact have a place in some companies.  But there ARE languages like
Perl which are much better CGI languages than RPG, which was designed for
database/reports.  How one chooses to intermingle CGI with the database
probably determines one's comfort level with RPG as a CGI language.

But consider an alternative which isn't limited by 'We only know RPG here'.
If I were to ask a professional web consultant how to approach the problem,
she may well architect a very different approach; one that doesn't involve
CGI at all, perhaps.  Who knows?  The point is that learning about the
existence of other tools/processes/technologies makes it possible to make
the best decisions for my business.  Limiting myself to RPG-only solutions
_may_ not always be the best course of action.  Maybe learning some new
thing will be the way to procees, rather than nudge RPG to do the task.

Please take to heart this final bit of drivel from a very tired fellow.  I
am absolutely not directing this at any one person.  It is clearly
understood by everyone reading this thread that nobody is afraid of new or
different technologies.  This isn't a diatribe against RPG, either - there
are plenty of good places to use RPG in a web environment.  It's not about
CGI vs XML: each has a place.  It's about being careful not to limit your
options to what you know, but to reach out and find new options.  Put all
your options in the management tradeoff blender and your ultimate decision
making process will be the better for it.

Best regards,
  --buck