On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 4:14 PM, Jon Paris <jon.paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
(1) the choice of
learning fixed vs. free does make a big difference,
That’s the one I meant.
Have you found that it makes a difference whether you are teaching
with SEU or RDi? I am guessing you have experience in both settings.
And also, when you say "non-RPGers", do you mean new to programming
entirely, or just new to RPG? Again, I suppose you have experience
with both.
I'm trying to suss out how much of the difference in teaching/learning
is the syntax and how much is the tooling or educational/experiential
background. I truly do not believe free format RPG would have been
significantly easier for me to learn fresh out of undergrad (when I
was still pretty fluent in C and Pascal, and reasonably comfortable
with Unix) than fixed format (which is what I did wind up learning, on
genuine dumb terminals).
Now, it so happens that I was learning PDM, SEU, and a bit of OS/400
at the same time that I was learning RPG/400. It's a fairly cohesive
environment. SEU and columnar RPG just go so well together. When I
first learned of RPG IV (just reading things here and there, no actual
compiler to try), I immediately recognized and appreciated most of the
benefits, from an academic standpoint. But SEU provides virtually no
help for free format. Indeed, I have always found, and still find,
that free format RPG in SEU is an unpleasant and cumbersome experience
(basically even worse than Notepad). For me, the picture changes
drastically when RDi is thrown into the mix. Suddenly it's free format
that is noticeably more pleasant and easy than fixed. (Well, OK,
technically I still have never used RDi. But I've gotten my toes wet
with RPG Next Gen Editor and extrapolated from there.)
So, I don't doubt your experience, Jon. I just find it hard to believe
I am *SO* outside the norm. (Then again, I am pretty heretical on a
few key fronts; most notably, I prefer to program using proportional
fonts. Fortunately for me, there is a small but vibrant and growing
community of programmers who share that preference.)
John Y.
midrange.com
