It's interesting you took issue with the idea of a cash grab, but
not with the idea that RPG is a sinking ship. :-)
Yeah, I know, COBOL has been a "sinking ship" for...what...20 years
now? RPG will no doubt still be around to keep COBOL company.
Mostly because that is a debate I'm bored with Kelly.
I agree - RPG (like COBOL) will be around for a long, long time.
Just as bored with the argument. If you notice, I said:
I think IBM sees RPG as a sinking ship....
Maybe a better way to phrase that statement would have been "IBM treats RPG
as a sinking ship...". That would have made it clear that the statement
was about IBM's treatment of RPG, not RPG itself. I don't see RPG OA as a
reason to get excited. That's my option. I'll actually be glad if someone
proves me wrong and shows me how Open Access benefits me as a RPG
programmer.
But that isn't the only issue I take with IBM. I want to see IBM stop
using a 1990's model of developing and releasing RPG. New releases are 3-4
years apart and little to no information is leaked between releases. When
they do arrive, most of the community seems indifferent to what was added.
It takes years (at the very least, months) after a release for people to
get articles that show them how new features work and benefit them. This
is not the way to have a successful language in 2010. I know RPG is
proprietary, but it needs to stop and learn from the open source community
and modern programming languages. Not in syntax or function, but in
marketing and community building. Microsoft open sourced a good chunk
of .NET, and that doesn't sound like the 1995 Microsoft at all. I bring
that to point out that other companies are making major adjustments to
sustain their technology, even when it hurts their ego. IBM seems to sit
around with its fingers in its ears saying, "NA NA NA NA NA". That's just
my opinion and I reserve the right to be wrong.
If you had said the IBM i I wouldn't have quibbled but ... RPG ?
If IBM i is the ship, then RPG is gold that is trapped inside. :)?
Regardless, IBM has to continue to provide something for people with RPG/CL
applications powering their business. My guess is a form of IBM i or RPG
will almost certainly be around for a very, very long time. It might take
a different form than it does now, but I don't foresee the often foretold
death of IBM i or RPG anytime soon, if ever.
midrange.com
