Compatibility across releases as curse WAS: CF-Spec - another call for opinions

Colin,

>One of the AS/400s main strengths is its compatibilty across 
>releases. Are you saying that idea is a bad thing?

I would respectfully answer that it might be a Bad Thing indeed.

The use of global variables in (compatible) RPG/400 will kill us all.  We
desperately need to convert to local variables / procedures in RPG IV.  I
will take any excuse I can get to be rid of the old code, and the sooner it
happens, the better I'll be.  Any excuse at all, including "slight
incompatibility in order to upgrade."

Blind adherence to compatibility has lead to a situation where the /400 is
putting itself out of a job, as the vintage 1980 applications it compatibly
runs becomes obsolete.  The longer we wait to re-write, the greater the
chances that the application will be scrapped instead of re-written.  If we
use a new, not-so-compatible version of RPG IV as an excuse to re-write AND
we use modern, modular techniques to do it, we'll be in a better position to
face the changing business rules of the next 20 years.  The alternative is
to sell management on AS/400 Java when it comes time to scrap the existing
apps, I guess.

Some businesses operate in an environment where their business rules haven't
changed since the '80s.  Compatibility is a godsend for them.  They can get
more horsepower without having to touch their software.

For companies where the business rules change by the minute and we are
forced to try to maintain this "compatible" code on a daily basis,
compatibility is an excuse for management to not spend the time and money to
do the job properly.  Or perhaps it's our excuse for taking the easy way out
rather than try to create a new plan, sell it to management, construct, test
and implement it.  I don't know.  I'm just so tired of looking at 1980s
vintage "load, sort, print."  Remember that I'm not talking about a single
program, but all of the programs that make up an application.  We can
re-write individual programs one by one to modern standards, but that won't
help much with the old business rules that the application as a whole
encapsulates.  

At some point, isn't there going to be some incompatibility in order to
advance?

Buck Calabro
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