RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures

Code 400 does have a prototype wizard.

Rob Berendt
-- 
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary 
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." 
Benjamin Franklin 




"Bob cozzi" <cozzi@xxxxxxxxx> 
Sent by: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
10/24/2003 10:03 AM
Please respond to
RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>


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Subject
RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures






<rant>
The whole idea, in my view is to give RPG developers the capability to 
write
some really cool code and not just have some dumb-a*s indicator-controlled
logic. What kind of fun is that to add on to or maintain... that's why you
don't get developers going into AS/400 programming... the existing code 
base
largely sucks.  Heck even some of the "cool free stuff" people on this 
list
and others are offering via the web is horse crap. They are not using the
new stuff 'correctly' but rather are just writing crap code like that did
when they used indicators, the only difference is now they're writing crap
code with an IF statement in free-format.
</rant>
My point is that we have to use this new stuff because most other 
platforms
and languages are using it already. If we are constantly the last group of
professional programmers to embrace new technology, we will be gone. 
And don't read this to mean that we need to drop something like RPG and
start using Java or anything like that... I am referring to something that
has been around for decades: procedures and prototyping. I realize Java
doesn't do prototyping and I'm not sure why we "need" prototyping, but it 
is
here and we have to live with it. If IBM could just build an IDE that we
could use, one that could generate the prototype for us, then it wouldn't
even be a question.

Bob Cozzi
Cozzi Consulting
www.rpgiv.com


-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Bill Hopkins
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 9:31 AM
To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures

Why hire a manager who has to re-write. Instead should you not at least 
hire someone that had the ability to learn what was going on in the code 
to fix it. Just by using a list like this and/or the books on IBM site . 

 Isn't that were the real money was wasted? 

Bill Hopkins






"DeLong, Eric" <EDeLong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
10/24/2003 10:08 AM
Please respond to RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries

 
        To:     "'RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries'"
<rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
        cc: 
        Subject:        RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures


Actually, yes, I think I would be surprised by her actions.  In her
situation, the choices seem simple:

1) Call the guy who wrote the stuff for a consult.  Even without direct
access to a terminal, his experience could have resolved her problems
quickly.

2) Hire an outside expert to repair the problem.  Not as efficient, since
the consultant must gain understanding the hard way. 

3) Scrap a complete and basically functional app, and completely rewrite 
it
(in an archaic language/style).  By far the least productive of all 
choices,
since it means all the money spent on the initial development AND the 
money
spent on an unnecessary rewrite are WASTED. 

observation:
If the manager never reviewed the code before it hit her machine, then 
what
does she expect.  It's her job to understand what her box is sopposed to 
be
doing, and how it must be managed and maintained. 

This is sort of a hot button for me...  There's ever more pressure being
placed on us to produce the highest quality software, with the richest
feature-set, and snazziest interfaces.  Make it perfect and idiot-proof 
and
stable and portable.  But write it all in RPGII so our janitor/junior ops
programmer flunkie who programmed a S34 once back in 1984 can help to
maintain it for the next 40 years or so. 

Eric DeLong
Sally Beauty Company
MIS-Project Manager (BSG)
940-898-7863 or ext. 1863



-----Original Message-----
From: Booth Martin [mailto:Booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 8:35 PM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures


Can her reaction be a surprise? He's gone and suddenly she has a 
non-useful
application and bosses breathing down her neck. 
 
In a perfect world all IT shops would have 20% or more of programmer time
budgeted for training. But alas... it will never happen.
 
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------
Booth Martin http://www.MartinVT.com
Booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------------------
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2003 5:26:28 PM
To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: RE: Benefits of Sub-procedures
 
.....
 
Another horror story I have heard in the past year - another colleague
of mine had written a stand-alone application completely in RPGIV. He
even designed his database with 10-character field names and date and
time fields. He used sub-procedures. Then he cut his hand with a
band-saw and was out on medical leave for 2 1/2 months.
 
Needless to say, one of his managers had to make a change to his app.
She didn't understand any of it, so, she re-wrote the entire thing in
RPG/400. When he came back off of medical leave, he was told he could
not use any RPGIV at all, ....
 
Bob Cagle
IT Manager
Lynk, Inc.
913-492-9202 x41

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