Re: EGL and RPG - The Fastest Path to the Future

Pete Helgren wrote:

I am not sure I agree that somehow Java/C++ programmers are somehow disadvantaged by the language. Let's say that all those fresh faced programmers coming out of college and technical schools *are* learning RPG. There is nothing innately a part of RPG that makes understanding business logic and processes any easier or more complete. In other words, the fresh faced programmer with any language background will most likely be ignorant of basic business logic implementation, unless they come from a business degree or experience background.

Absolutely, Pete. With few exceptions, the very best RPG programmers I've ever met came from business backgrounds. They were business analysts who migrated into programming, and RPG allowed them to express their thought processes logically and concisely. I don't think I reached my prime in progamming until I went to SSA, which had a very specific policy of requiring us to because certified - not in technology, but in business! I think taking the CPIM certification was what really prepared me to understand how computers affect businesses, and what the real job of a business application is - to make businesses work better.

These days there are enough frameworks available that implementing business logic in almost any language is possible and, I would say, equally difficult. The problem is in the education, not the language. People are being trained as technologists, not business solution providers. That is the crux of the problem, IMHO.

Absolutely, Pete! The reality is that all of today's technologies require technologists. People are become Microsoft certified, but all that means is that they can use the tools. But if you don't know architecture, you're not going to be able to design a house, and programs are more about the architecture than the tools.

And that's where EGL comes in. As Chris Laffra and I showed when we put together the RSDC scheduler application, EGL allows people with different technological backgrounds to come together to build powerful applications without worrying about the details of technology. Chris is no RPG person, or even a System i person, and I certainly am no expert on the RUI stuff, and yet we were able to quickly and effectively communicate and build a system based on *business* requirements. That's what EGL buys you today, and that's why it's the best tool for multi-tiered business applications.

Joe