Réf. : Why no migration (Was RE: RPG III to get a facelift)

> There is a reason SUN left them out of JAVA and IBM
> is leaving them out of FREE. . .

Dijkstra wrote a seminal article in 1968 about this subject.

http://www.acm.org/classics/oct95/

Cheers,

--
Antoine Contal



                                                                                
                                                         
                                                                                
                                                         
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                                                  Objet :  Why no migration 
(Was RE: RPG III to get a facelift)                          
             "Chris Wolcott"                                                    
                                                         
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             26/10/2004 16:36                                                   
                                                         
             Veuillez répondre à RPG                                            
                                                         
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In a previous company we used COBOL.  Even though COBOL requires NO
changes to be compiled as ILE, management had to be dragged kicking and
screaming to ILE.  (Their internal tables got SO large OPM would not
support them anymore.)  Even when they did compile some as ILE, they
prefered to fight the mixed OPM/ILE environment hassles instead of just
recompiling everything as ILE.  (Boy, what hassles those where!)

Basically, it came down to two reasons:

1:  They did not want to improve the coders skill set for fear they
would leave.
2:  ILE was 'Not how we've always done it before'.  (They still coded
screens for the 36, and used an internally written utility to convert it
to an AS/400 DSPF source member.  No, they did not support the 36
anymore, it is just because that is how they'd always done it.)
3:  Both management and coders did not know what the difference between
ILE & OPM was, and feared what they did not know.

Given that RPG III requires a conversion to RPG IV and then must be
re-tested to make sure the conversion didn't miss something or induce
new errors, I'd be hesitent to convert my mega-line programs over too.
However, I would code new programs and major re-writes as ILE.

= = =

At the risk of starting a holy war, I think it is good that IBM is
leaving out TAGs and GOTOs.  Yes, there are times when they can make
things easier, but unless used with disipline and restraint they just
cause spagetti code.  Personally, I NEVER use them, and don't allow
folks under me to use them either.  I have never had a situation where I
could not code without one.  Usually if I've coded myself into a
situation where the best way out was a GOTO, then I've structured the
logic wrong.  Rethinking the problem has always lead to a cleaner, more
logical structure.  There is a reason SUN left them out of JAVA and IBM
is leaving them out of FREE. . .


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