Before I comment I will note I have used Hibernate fairly extensively and
then RPG and DB2 obviously a lot.
Yes, and there is nothing similar in RPG. In Hibernate, you can change the
'database', and your business class application continues to work fine.
That is only because an abstraction layer (POJO) has been built around it.
The same can be done in RPG with and service programs if necessary.
In RPG, you change anything on the database, and you have to recompile
everything, write migration programs, you know the drill!.
I agree it can be painful, but it is only as painful as your limitations on
creatively developing your RPG similar to how Java encapsulates a DB
record. For example, if your customer file changes once a month and 60% of
all programs utilize it, then for heavens sake put a service program around
it with getters/setters to gain access to the data so recompiling is only
necessary for the programs that are accessing the new piece of data.
BUT, you dont have to use Hibernate, you can use standard SQL to access
your database, which can be on the iSeries, or on your PC, or in memory, or
on a web server.
RPG can use SQL to access DB2 AND you can use the incredibly easy to use
opcodes AND you don't have to setup or maintain hibernate mapping files. If
you ask me Java can't hold a match to RPG and DB access. Does Java have a
couple of nice DB features that RPG doesn't have? sure. But let's not get
carried away and state that RPG DB access is severely lacking in relation to
things like Hibernate. Hibernate is a classic case where they are trying to
make their way back to the mother ship, and that mother ship is what RPG has
had for decades (except without all the nasty lazy loading, object collision
stuff).
Try accessing a static database, held on a webserver, using RPG!!
Please expound, I am not following what you mean by a static database.
I created this simple CRM for my other half: http://totspics.com/bizwiz .
Very cool app! Any chance you could share the source? BTW, installation
worked flawless on Ubuntu 8.04 (Linux).
But, I suppose, if you're happy with Green screen apps, running on big-old
IBM iron, then yeh, stick with RPG. Personally, I think one of the best
combinations for business, is a mixture of both.
And right there is where you nailed it on the head "...one of the best
combinations for business, is a mixture of both." Obviously RPG can't run
on the PC (or at least IBM's attempt was implemented in such a way that it
was doomed to fail). But if you are an RPG shop, then mixing in Java around
the edges to work in the areas where it accels you can build some excellent
applications! For example, you could simply have that Java application
running as a "shell" and it communicated with an RPG program on the iSeries
to recieve down all of the different aspects of a form and what should be
required entry and what not. Essentially, you could write a Java library
that operates similar to a browser and run the entire Controller and Model
portions from RPG, and only use Java for the View.
If you AREN'T an RPG shop then it hardly makes sense to introduce it at this
point in the game unless you plan to fully utilize the language/platform/db
to it's fullest extent.
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
midrange.com
