RE: Aaron Bartell's RPG/Java comparison

>However, some languages are FAR better at certain
>types of problems than other languages.

>I was programming in Java for a year and a half
>before I began to even dimly understand the power
>of a true object-oriented approach.

I've noticed over time that when people hear/read
new things (including myself), we always compare
and contrast that with what we know. Take for
instance relational database IO. As RPG programmers,
we know how easy it is to do IO with RPG. When I
discuss this issue with non-RPGers, I can tell they
discard this as hype because everything I say is
translated to the equivelant things you do in SQL.
In the end, they see it as a different way to do the
same thing, not a better, more efficient way. Having
an integrated OS on the AS/400 means nothing to
people on other OS's. Since they've never had that,
it's irrelevant because they can't imagine how it
would really be better than what they have. Windows
people are probably the worst group to try to explain
the benefits of the AS/400 because the AS/400 is so
different than a Windows machine. Plus they are used
to getting a lot of hype that either never shows up
or shows up late with a lot less than what was
promised. Regular expressions are another example.
I used to think it was hype because I could write
string handling routines to do the same thing. I
know better now. I've found OO to be the same. It
wasn't a simple, easy transition, but now I'm a fan.

Joe Teff
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