Re: QCMDEXC question -- MIDRANGE-L

** Reply to note from qappdsn@ibm.net Sat, 31 Jan 1998 18:34:38 -0800

> But I think the bastardization of language use (driving a nail with a
> wrench...shame on you) is why we see new languages like JAVA popping up.
> It's our never ending quest for the software version of a holy grail or
> unified theory.
>   
> The point I was trying to make though was that under a new design
> construct (ILE vs OPM) the previously used and very familiar languages
> may have to be left behind. I've got no real bones to pick about CL, nor
> am I in love with it. I didn't miss JCL leaving the S/360 for S/3x OCL
> and didn't pine for that when CL was the language de jour.

I think that there is a lot of power you can add to an application by using
CL. A programmer who does not know CL might hack similar functions into an
RPG application. The trade off here is that the programmer must go to extra
effort as a result of a lack of familiarity with the other language.

I'm not sure I see that changing under the ILE paradigm. Am I missing
something? Doesn't ILE CL allow for you bind CL program modules to RPG ones
to further enhance the integration? 

By the way, I still miss the OCL IF ACTIVE- test. It's a lot of work to do
the same thing on the 400!

But in a language like Java, system objects are just objects. If there is
an interface to that object, then it is useable. It isn't as if someone
built a language to have features of RPG (or C) and CL, it is just a
natural facet of an object oriented environment/language that all objects
are equally accessable.

I'd also like to point out that looking at Java as a language is a little
like looking at the AS/400 as a hardware platform. 

> I believe a response was posted to the above mentioned proud poster not
> to put too much of your talent into a language that has nowhere else to
> go. I tend to agree. Should the powers that be decide a new chip requires
> a new language to take advantage of all of it's features one would find
> themselves with yesterdays code. Not a good thing. :(

I don't think that any of us has the guarantee that our skills won't be
displaced. As we watch NT gain in market share we can all be seeing a
required change in skill sets. But while I am coding on an AS/400 I will
use whatever features and tools are available to do the best possible job
of making use of AS/400 features. CL, RPG, Java, whatever's in the bag. I
wish I knew more CL, every time I use it I end up doing more with it than I
thought I could when I started. 

> Regards, James W. Kilgore qappdsn@ibm.net
 

Chris Rehm
Mr.AS400@ibm.net

How often can you afford to be unexpectedly out of business?
Get an AS/400.
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