Re: "Webulating" RPG -- MIDRANGE-L

I used to think that coding VB applications (or pick your language of choice) 
on a PC was part of the OO world. What I have discovered is that just as many 
developers in that arena do not understand OO concepts as do people coming from 
mainframe and midrange backgrounds. Just because you develop on a platform or 
language that boasts OO, it doesn't make you an OO programmer. I come across 
the same thing with people that develop in databases that brag about triggers, 
stored procedures, referential integrity, etc. (like Oracle or Access). All of 
these features turn out to be a future enhancement. I do not disagree with the 
statements that AS/400 developers need better design skills or modeling tools. 
Granted, us "old style" developers could be better designers, use more features 
of the database, etc., but the illusion that the "new breed" is better at it, 
is more of a myth than a reality.

Joe Teff
QDS
Bloomington, MN
----------
 
> Having gone through the learning curve of OO concepts over the past year,  I 
>think
> many RPG shops will find the transition to OO painful for a one main reason.
> Having come from a non-AS/400 background with a heavy emphasis on design and
> modeling tools, it has been my experience that design skills and the use of 
>modern
> design and modeling tools are somewhat lacking in the many AS/400 shops.
> 
> The success of a project using an object oriented language is completely 
>dependent
> on the upfront design and modeling work that must be done prior to writing one
> line of code.  Many RPG programmers code first and ask questions later.  This
> approach will simply not work with an OO language.
> 
> Before beginning a project written in an object-oriented language, the first 
>step
> should be the development of a complete  model of the system you are 
>developing,
> including class diagrams, use case diagrams, data models, and other object
> oriented modeling diagrams.  We have been using the tool Rational Rose to 
>model
> our systems in UML for approximately 9 months and it has revolutionized our
> development--even projects written in RPG ILE.  Is requires some additional
> methodology to apply UML models to construction in RPG ILE but it is easily
> doable.
> 
> Also, we have been using the data modeling tool ERwin for years.  We do 
>absolutely
> no database design in DDS.  Designing a database with a data modeling tool is
> infinitely more efficient than pounding out DDS and adding constraints to 
>files
> one by one. Also, having experience with another PC based modeling tool was
> helpful in learning Rational Rose, so I would recommend to any AS/400 shop to 
>at
> least investigate the use of a data modeling tool, which are relatively easy 
>to
> learn compared to OO modeling tools,  that supports reverse and forward
> engineering of DBS/400 databases.
> 
> My recommendation to any RPG shop that is planning a transition to an object
> oriented language should invest in an OO modeling tool to do their design work
> immediately while continuing to code in RPG ILE.  This will teach two very
> important concepts, system design and modeling, and OO concepts themselves.
> Without these skills and knowledge under your belt, learning an OO language 
>will
> be a waste of time.  Actually, as many people has said Java itself is very 
>easy to
> learn.  But OO requires a completely different approach to software 
>development.
> I would recommend to not even begin learning an OO language until you have 
>become
> somewhat proficient in an OO modeling tools.  It will reduce your learning 
>curve
> by months, if not years.
+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to "MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com".
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---