Re: Impressions of EGL - Part Duex

[Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nathan Andelin wrote:
> > Bradley V. Stone wrote:
> > I don't think Nathan ever said you don't have to learn HTML,
> > JavaScript, etc.  If he did, I hope he clarifies.
> >     
>
> Joe's allegation puzzled me too.  Learning HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and 
> the DOM has worked to my advantage, so I encourage people to learn it. 
> Some years ago I was paired with an HTML guru and we divided the work 
> between us.  He wrote HTML while I wrote RPG and the relationship worked 
> well.
>   
EXCELLENT!  I've got it on record now: Both Stone and Andelin say that 
effective use of RPG-CGI also requires knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, 
CSS, and the Document Object Model.

This is a far cry from the "edit with dreamweaver and insert some tags" 
that was presented.  I quote Nathan:

"I only insert two (2) things in an HTML page to interface with an RPG 
program. <RECORD> and {{FIELD}} delimeters. Nothing more."

That was the statement that I took issue with, because it sort of 
sidesteps the fact that the web page has to also have some sophisticated 
JavaScript and a well-built framework around it.  And now we've laid 
that to rest, I can exit the thread.

And to make my final point: you do *not* need to know JavaScript or HTML 
or much of anything to create EGL pages.  You drag widgets from the 
palette and bind them to EGL fields.  You can even bind a function 
directly to a button using drag-and-drop, something that simply can't be 
done in RPG-CGI.

So to summarize: if you want to learn HTML and JavaScript and the DOM 
and an HTML editor and an RPG-CGI framework, you can do really cool 
stuff.  If you prefer to just learn a single language (EGL) and a single 
IDE (that you can also use to edit your RPG code and that you already 
know if you're using WDSC), then RDi-SOA and EGL may be a good alternative.

Joe