Re: Newbie ?

From: "Buck Calabro" <Buck.Calabro@commsoft.net>
> Please don't take this to private email!  I am quite certain
> that there are MANY lurkers who would find this discussion
> extremely enlightening...

It's nice to hear a few comments in favor of ILE options.  Java options get
most of the press these days.  Out of the ILE options, and for simple
applications, the chosen technique or tool has little relevance.  Strait
CGI, Net.Data, and Easy400 all work great.

Net.data is the most seductive.  Interpretive environments normally are.
Net.Data is very forgiving.  You can do most things in script.  Immediate
feedback is returned to the browser.  The feedback may be a descriptive
error message.  Zero to little compiling involved.  It's my favorite tool
for simple query and action requests.

Net.Data, in my opinion is not the right tool for complex,
highly-interactive applications.  One downside is that complex scripts are
hard to maintain.  They can get to be a convoluted mixture of HTML, Java
Script, Net.Data Script, SQL, and statements pertaining to other system
interfaces.  The other problem is performance.  The Net.Data based HTTP
Server Configuration tool is a good example.  Performance is terrible.   It
drains the CPU tank.

The performance problem seems to be due to the nature of interpretive
runtime environments.  Script files (including HTML) are loaded, parsed, and
interpreted at runtime.  Net.Data relies on interfaces with various OS/400
runtime environments (such as SQL) to handle most of the work.  Net.Data
must create references to system procedures at runtime.

When the macro is in Net.Data's cache, performance is pretty good.  In
simple applications, the macro is normally in cache.  Not so, in the case of
complex, highly-interactive applications.  Macros are swapped in and out as
needed.  Performance is terrible.  The size of cache is somewhat
configurable, though.

I didn't intend to limit my comments to Net.Data.  Maybe I can add more
later.

Nathan M. Andelin
www.relational-data.com