1. What does data-centric programming really mean in an iSeries COBOL
shop using DB2 for i?
2. Is data-centric development something that makes for better web and
mobile apps? If yes, how?
Kelly,
The variety of results from a Google search on "data-centric
programming/development" suggest that the term means different things to
different people, and is applied to a lot of disparate contexts.
So it might help if you were to share more background about what prompted
the questions. Would such background include the "RPG and IBM i Programming
Languages" discussion on Linkedin? One of the contributors, Dan Lovell made
the following memorable statement:
"The database is your business...it models the enterprise, and therefore
must be the sole keeper of validations, business logic, security, and
relationships."
That may sound like hyperbole to some, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
It reinforces the idea of giving top priority to database modernization
first. Begin there before tackling "application" and "user interface"
modernization because the "validations, business logic, security, and
relationships" implemented "in the database" will have a big impact on
"application" and "UI" architecture which follows.
The sad thing is that hopes and promises were dashed for those who
"believed" in such devices a screen-scraping and extensions of that
paradigm, when there were really more meaningful concerns with respect to
how well data modeled an enterprise, and how "true" it was.
midrange.com
