RE: Alternate Platform for COBOL -- COBOL400-L

The difference between RPG and COBOL is that about 70%
of AS/400 shops use RPG and about 8% of shops use
COBOL. If there were ever a time for IBM to be tempted
to drop COBOL, the merger of the AS/400 and RS600 into
a new platform would be the time.

RPG, on the other hand, will almost certainly migrate
to the new platform. There's no reason why IBM can't
make an RPG compiler for *nix. RPG will likely be the
language IBM prefers to support on the new platform.

The merger of the AS/400 and RS6000 into single
midrange platform will indeed be slow and somewhat
unpredictable.  But today I see *nix on the AS/400 and
on the RS6000.  I don't see OS/400 on the RS6000.  I
think IBM has already set a bias in the direction of
the operating system merger.

It's a good idea for any midrange programmer to learn
Java and RPG in addition to COBOL.  I am.  These three
languages seem to be the powerhouses of the midrange
world.

I'm interested in hearing more from people who
disagree! :)

Kelly Cookson


--- Joe Pluta <joepluta@PlutaBrothers.com> wrote:
> > From: Kelly Cookson
> >
> > IBM has made no secret about its desire to merge
> the
> > AS/400 and RS/6000 into a single platform.  I
> doubt
> > the new platform will be running OS/400.  I expect
> the
> > new platform will run *nix.  I would hate to lose
> all
> > our COBOL/400 resources because of a switch to
> *nix.
>
> And what do you think will happen to the hundreds of
> millions millions of
> lines of RPG out there?  Do you think IBM will dump
> them and their users?
>
>
> > And, as a junior programmer, the decision to
> switch
> > from the AS/400 to another platform isn't mine to
> > make. What if my managers decide to migrate away
> from
> > the AS/400?  I would sure like my COBOL/400 skills
> to
> > migrate right along with them.
>
> This is a more realistic answer.  You want YOUR
> skills to be as easily
> transferable as possible.  This has nothing to do
> with the platform or the
> end users.  The logical extension of this argument
> is to drop COBOL
> altogether, and learn Java and SQL.  Thus the
> constant harping by body shops
> that everything must be "platform independent".
> This isn't for the end
> user's benefit; it's for the body shop.
>
> Me, I'll continue to recommend that my clients stick
> with the proven
> capabilities of the IBM midrange platform.  Over the
> decades, it has
> continued to evolve from the early days of the
> System/3 with CCP, and I see
> no reason for that to end.  The news of the death of
> OS/400 (or its
> successor) is a bit premature.
>
> Joe
>
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