Re: RPG Cycle (was: RPG IV Certification)

James Lampert wrote:

If they "do not understand The Cycle" then they have no business claiming to be competent in RPG.
Period.

For a maintenance only programmer maybe. For someone writing new code I Disagree 100%. You only need to know how to keep your program from cycling and that is all. WAY too much horrible terrible very bad code is written because 'the other people here don't understand RPGIV and Procedures and (etc. etc.) In other words Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (aka 'Grandma Cobol') would show up and beat the CRAP out of you for that. "We've always done it that way" is the worst reason for continuing to do anything the same way and she promised to whack people with her cane for saying those words.

I have been an IBM Midrange guy since 1983. Before that I learned (in order) BASIC, Fortran, Assembler, COBOL, and LISP. I maintained an entire Database management system in BASIC that ran in MPM on an Z80 using bank switched RAM. DB in one bank, your applications in the others. Then I met the S/34, RPG II, and 'The Cycle". I hated it. All sorts of things happened that I could not control. Indicators came on seemingly for no reason due to actions I did not initiate. Things that I needed to do down in the "C" specs required I tweak the "H", "F", "I", and "O" specs that were spread all over creation. And the editor let me change ONE LOUSY LINE AT A TIME! ARRRRGH! Did that mean It was inefficient or incapable? No, just hard to work with.

Now I don't write so much RPG any more but when I do it's FREE FORM using a high powered tool that lets me see 100 lines of code at once, edit multiple programs at once and cut and paste between them. Yee Ha! . Even though it's been literally 25 years since I wrote any amount of BASIC, Free Form and completely ignoring the Cycle makes so much sense that I simply don't understand why people fight to keep doing things the old way.

Is the Cycle easy to understand now? Well mostly, but do NOT corner me and force me to answer an MR question or I'll hurt you! :-) It's like the old John Deere's on which I spent so much time over a 7 year period. I could start that thing in 10 seconds but I would win bets that others couldn't start it without help in 5 minutes. In order to start it one needed to use one switch, one button and FIVE levers. You also had damn sure better know the position of the brakes, transmission and the clutch (which by the way was NOT on the floor!) It sent two colors of smoke out in three directions and emanated sounds that ranged from comical to scary! Easy? Sure after the 25th time. And I could still start that thing in 10 seconds today even though I haven't driven it since 1982 but that does *NOT* make it the right way to build a tractor! 1959 was the last year JD built those (except in Europe oddly enough) but they old boys soldier on to this day doing what they are asked to do. If you have old RPG code that still does exactly what it needs to do then let it run but if you need to replace it don't buy another 1959 model get with the 00s!

- Larry

It is impossible to code an RPG program without dealing with The Cycle in one way or another: even if you disable it completely by setting on LR in the very first executable statement, you are still dealing with it.