Re: CGI vs JSP... -- WEB400

CGI - Pros:
You probably already know RPG.
Easy to start with.

CGI - Cons:
Doesn't always scale well.
Locks you into using iSeries as your webserver and as your back-end.
HTTP server and web application must be in same tier.
Tough to hire people that know anything about RPG-CGI.

JSP Pros:
Easy to find people who know it.
Can run web app tier on just about any platform.
Can connect to multiple back-end databases.
Can separate HTTP server tier from web app tier.
Lots of open-source resources.

JSP Cons:
You probably don't know it.
Can be tough to get started if you don't have an experienced Java person.

I was lucky.  We had a kid with a CompSci major working on our help
desk, just dying to get into development.  Once I got the OK to start
playing with WAS, I also got him put on my team.  He wrote a bunch of
classes to mask the difficulty of doing things like connecting to a
back-end database.  He also figured out how to get WDSC working and
get the test server communicating with the back-end (no mean feat).
So for folks like me (lots of HTML, but not much Java), it was really
easy to start developing.  I wouldn't think of what I'm writing as
Java; it's more like Decaf.  But I can run queries and call RPG and CL
programs as stored procedures, almost like I know what I'm doing.
Once you get the hang of how servlets and JSPs interact, and how to
pass data from a servlet to a JSP, it's really a piece of cake.  And I
think it's easier to keep your model, view and controller separate
with servlets and JSPs than it is with a scripting language like
Net.Data or PHP (where most of my experience was).

If you have someone who knows Java, or can find someone who knows
Java, I would recommend going that route.  If not, I might recommend
PHP over RPG-CGI, just because it will be easier to find people to
develop in it.

Mike E.

On 5/12/06, Shane_Cessna@xxxxxxx <Shane_Cessna@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Can I get everyone's opinion on what the pros & cons are of using CGI
RPGLE applications versus JSPs...

I'm doing a little bit of CGI development and was wanting to get into JSP
development just to expand my horizons a bit...

Also, does anyone know of any good tutorials on getting started using JSPs
to access 400 data?...

Thanks in advance...

Shane Cessna
Senior iSeries Programmer
North American Lighting, Inc.
(618) 662-4483 x2776

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