RE: RPG400-L Digest, Vol 5, Issue 1053 (Simple wotsit....)

<snip>

<My thinking is the same here. If he or she just learns the old stuff
<because that is what they use mostly when does he or she have the new
<stuff when they need it? You are building a new program. Use SQL and how
<it works. If they just use Record I/O, when they need SQL how are they
<going to know it? 


I don't think that anyone was saying just learn the old stuff, forgive me if I 
mis-understood but you seemed to be implying that we should use the newer 
techniques to the exclusion of all others.

You must be lucky if all you do is write new programs. Most of my work is 
de-bug and maintenance of existing stuff, currently a lot was written over 15 
years ago with little or no changes. So if the newcomers to RPG don't learn the 
old stuff as well as practising the new techniques when writing new programs 
how are they going to cope when they come across these older programs?


<My point is always the same. Unless you practice with something you are
<never going to get to a point where you are proficient with the tool. 

I Totally agree, but what if you don't have time to practise the newer stuff? 
Not all people are given lots of time to do their job, especially in the 
current "lets use one person to do this instead of six, that way we will save 
money" working environments.

<If you continue to write monolith programs, how do you learn to use the
<ILE Call model and do functional decomposition? 

Older methods do not necssarily produce "monolith" programs


<If you don't use SQL and push the limit, how do you learn to apply
<concepts of relational databases? Of course, you don't. SQL is just not
<a way to get data into a program. It is a way of thinking. 

<Back to my previous point. If all you use is a hammer, the best solution
<will always be a hammer.  

But which hammer?? A pin hammer to drive in a 6" nail? A sledge hammer to knock 
in a few carpet tacks? As Joe stated the right tool for the right job, whether 
that is a pin hammer or a pneumatic state of the art steam thingy all depends 
on what you want it for. 

 
Just my thoughts.

Steve