Lim & Gary are right. You need to somehow get her to listen with interest. Did she ask you for five reasons in the "just give me 5 reasons" snotty fashion, or the "I'd like to hear 5 more reasons" genuine interest fashion? The fact that she shut down the existing reasons that you presented makes me think it's the former (unfortunately), but it all depends on what her tone was.
In my shop, I present every new technique before using it so people are aware of it and don't get blindsided if they ever have to debug it. I get teased about these "service programs," but when it comes down to it, they love the modularization and benefits it provides (ease of implementation is a big one).
So tread lightly. And I really agree with Lim, prepare for the uneducated response. And don't give in, by which I mean you can bow out of an argument due to internal office politics (you don't want to get her pissed at you), but do so without compromising your beliefs to her. If you do that, you've lost any hope of addressing the issue again in the future.
-Kurt
-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monnier, Gary
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 4:07 PM
To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i
Subject: RE: Reasons for using RPGIV
Another thing to keep in mind is "The customer is always right. At least until they change their mind."
Gary
-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Hockchai Lim
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 1:51 PM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Reasons for using RPGIV
Most will probably disagree but this is from expriences:
I think your best option is try not to get into a head to head battle with her about how bad RPG400 is and how super duper RPGIV is. My guess is that every compelling reasons you come up with will likely to get shut down.
The
best approach for me seems to be to agree with her that RPG400 should remain as one of the primary focus. But the shop should not ban RPGIV or free form. This will allow growth and not letting shop get too behind on RPG
release. Crack open a little bit will go a long way.
Here are some example on how you can get shut down easily:
1) Local variable ==>
Why do we need that. It is confusing especially some developers create mutilple local variables with same name.
2) if else indent ==>
We can use STRSRCHLT to indent the RPG400 source easily. You can't even use STRSRCHLT on free form. If developer does not indent in free form correctly, it ends up a mess.
3) Prototype ==>
You meant to tell me that everytime I need to call an external program, I've to declare the prototype. What a pain.
4) Long field name ==>
Why would you want such long field name. Most of us already know short file field name by heart. Mixing long a short will just create confusion.
. . . .
"sjl" <sjl_abc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:mailman.38471.1302645343.2702.rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx...
I am involved in a philosophical argument with one of the lead
developers
in
the JDE/Oracle V5R4 shop where I have been working as a consultant for
the
last five years.
If I understand her correctly, her argument is that as a JDE shop that
we
should NOT be using RPGIV at all, and that we should be writing /all/
code
in RPG/400. I don't necessarily disagree, in the case of simple mods
to
an
existing JDE program, but I would argue that /all/ new development
should
be
done in free-form RPGIV.
Background:
We currently have a mixture of OPM and RPGIV code.
Some of the RPGIV is programs that have simply been run through
CVTRPGSRC
to
convert them to fixed-form ILE source, other RPGIV code includes
several
including entire sub-systems which have been written entirely in
free-form
RPGIV utilizing service programs and binding source.
Other than hitting the RPG/400 compiler limits on the number of
arrays,
tables, and files (which necessitates converting the program to RPGIV
in
order for it to compile successfully), she wants me to present five
compelling reasons to justify the use of RPGIV, particularly free-form
RPGIV
code.
Any thoughts? I need ammunition!
- sjl
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