Re: Future of RPG was: Open Access for RPG

Pete Helgren wrote:

There are really two issues at the heart of this:

1. Can we do anything to get the over 50 (40?) crowd to embrace the more modern development techniques that RPG (and IBM i) has made available?
2. Can we do anything to compel the under 30 crowd to give RPG (and IBM i) a try a see what a superior business language it is?

#1 - I think that is a losing battle. So many folks have checked out in the i/RPG world.

#2 - Great potential. Trevor pushing to get the YiPs going in Common and the "pick up and run" attitude of guys like Justen and Brian that are working closely with IBM (Steve Will) to establish the YoungiProfessionals.com site and push for more "young" folks to get involved in the "i" world, all of this has borne some fruit.

I'd love to hear if there are any community things that can be done to promote the issue raised by #2. Common gave birth to the YiPs and they are moving forward on their own with the support of IBM and Common. What else can be done?

Nice analysis. The real problem is that IBM isn't promoting RPG. That's the root. The secondary effect of a lack of jobs leads to the tertiary effects of no curriculum and no internships and thus no reason for college kids to invest time. The lack of an open source alternative tunes out those who like and might be tempted to give it a try.

The best option is still to promote RPG as a database accelerator language and make it a standard option on high-powered IBM"business logic servers" that speak to the outside world using web services and ODBC. You provide simple tools to allow the development of business rules in DB2 and then use RPG as the nitro under the hood when you need real performance.

They were this/close with the blade, but as usual since the i is not a services revenue-generator, there's no good reason to push it. Silly, really, because if IBM created a demand for RPG they'd own the consulting and education market.

Joe