Thank you all for your responses. I was surprised by the number of responses and their enthusiasm.
Have you noticed how something that gets repeated and repeated again eventually seems to be true? (Goebbells knew that all to well, right?) I started to really worry about my mental soundness, since my understanding was that Java was being used for the enterprise everywhere.
The problem that we have is that we are a team of 3 developers, and only one is a Java expert -- that's me ;-) --, one has done a little bit, and the last one has never used Java (only Synon, COBOL and Lansa).
That means that we probably would have to use something more programmer-friendly to revamp our large COBOL/Synon application. A Java generator might do the trick... I was looking yesterday to mrc's product. How about EGL? Any other suggestions?
Thank you all!
Best wishes,
Luis
date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 13:35:10 -0600
from: "Aaron Bartell" <albartell@xxxxxxxxx>
subject: RE: The case for Java on (or out) of the iSeries
I would say the success of Java in your environment (or any for that matter)
is getting the right people on the project. The "right people" simply means
someone who can evaluate all the different solutions out there and
objectively pick one based on long term visions. Someone who has a solid
understanding of the Java language (relative to the platform - J2ME, J2SE,
J2EE), and has a solid understanding of the iSeries.
The failure of Java I come across in RPG environments is because they were
too cheap to hire professional help. Get someone who knows Java working
with your team, and make sure they can remain objective enough to not come
in and want to scrap the iSeries simply because they aren't used to it (seen
that too many times).
> I know that few would attempt building a business application with Java
from scratch on the iSeries, but there are many tools and applications using
and generating Java these days.
Actually, IMO, this is the easiest place to use Java. When you can have a
100% Java, and related tooling, software stack you will find that building
applications is much more simplified (read "out of the box"). That doesn't
mean it is necessarily a good thing though (e.g. doing a mass exodus from
RPG to Java is dangerous for a variety of reasons). If you are talking
about a primarily RPG environment, then my approach is to use Java around
the edges where it makes sense instead of giving it mainstay in the
bowels/heart of an ERP application.
> Should Java tools, applications, or generators, be discarded as options to
revamp our COBOL/Synon systems?
I think it can definitely play a role. What type of application are we
talking here?
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
midrange.com
