Re: Why we don't use procedures more (was MOVE opcode in freeform /strange behavior w/%editc)

Hello Peter,

You wrote:
>We _do_ have a v5 box at work, but it's a production system, and we cannot
>use it to 'play around'.  We have to use our development box (v4r3) to do
>this.

I keep forgetting how restrictive some companies are.  Although one
seriously has to question why 510 is the production system.  It is much
more usual to have the more recent release on a development box in order to
test it out first.

Why can't they give you a library on the 510 machine to test in?  You could
quite easily be isolated from the rest of the machine.  I can see only
three possible sources of problems:
        1. No compiler on the production box (not much point in playing)
        2. Fear that you might inadvertantly crash, hang, or loop the
machine - reasonable caution but somewhat unfounded.
        3. Short-sighted management (not much you can do about that if they
won;t listen)

>Staying late at night or coming over on a Sunday morning... Well, try
>explaining that to my wife... She sees this as a job, not a career, you
>know...

Well, explain to her that your "job" is what is putting food on her table,
a roof over her head, and her kids through school, and you regard it as a
career!  One Sunday morning a month or one late night a week is hardly
asking too much to further your career.

>Reading a book.  Yeah right, like the book on Java for RPG programmers.  I
>bought it, read (most of) it, and found the title not quite in accordance
>with the contents: it should read 'Java for ILE gurus'.

Java for RPG Programmers (by George Farr and  Phil Coulthard) IS exactly
that.  They have to use ILE concepts for comparison because there is
nothing else an 'average' RPG programmer would be familiar with and the
point of the book is to use the comparison to make Java (and OO concepts in
general) less scary.

However, their view of 'average' is probably higher than the reality.  My
view of average is constantly being scaled down the more so-called business
programmers I have to work with (read suffer).

Having said that and looking through the book again I don't find anything
in there that assumes a high level of ILE knowledge on the part of the
reader.  The authors even go to the bother of providing a comparison
between RPG IV and RPG III applications before they embark on the RPG IV to
Java comparison.  I don't know what else they could be expected to do.

They can hardly write a book that will explain these concepts to the truly
stupid.  I know from some of your answers to questions on this forum that
you are not in that category.  Perhaps you learn better with an instructor.
But, honestly, you can't survive in IT (or much of the rest of the world
for that matter) without acquiring the skill of learning through reading.

>News/400 (now iSeries News): read it each month, courtesy of my employer.
>But reading about something can by now means compare to 'hands-on' trial
>and error.

But at least it gets the concepts explained so you can think about them and
grasp their importance and then you could place a business case to your
employer .... get the development box upgraded ... learn the new skills ...
improve development speed and reliability ....

>Freebies from IBM?  Not in Belgium, as far as I know...

I saw the .com in your e-mail address and presumed a US based corporation.
I didn't see the -eu part nor your signature.  Here in Australia we suffer
from similar tyrannies of distance and especially the US-centric view of
the world exhibited by most American corporations.

>As you can see, it's not my attitude, but the circumstances that stand in
>my way.

Point taken.  But if my employer were not interested in furthering my
career I'd be looking for somewhere else to work.  I know that Honda in New
Zealand is doing great things with RPG IV and ILE.  They've bitten into the
ILE apple with gusto.  Perhaps you can contact someone there (John V.
Thompson used to write articles based on the stuff they were doing at Honda
NZ) and use that as ammunition to further your cause with your current
employer?

Regards,
Simon Coulter.

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