RE: The case for Java on (or out) of the iSeries

From: Luis Colorado

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?

I was staying out of this conversation because nobody wants to hear me
ramble on about EGL, but since you've asked specifically, let me give you my
opinion as succinctly as possible.

EGL is intended to be a full development language that will generate COBOL
and Java applications from the ground up. It has multiple interface
capabilities (including a "text user interface" that emulates green screen,
although more for mainframe than iSeries). One of its UI flavors is the
browser using JavaServer Faces (JSF) pages. The EGL development tool (RBD,
or Rational Business Developer) uses very sophisticated WYSIWYG tooling to
create these pages.

However, you don't have to use EGL to rewrite all your business logic. EGL
is meant to remove "plumbing". It has built-in capabilities to call ILE
programs, execute SQL, invoke Java classes, you name it. Combined with the
really easy to use JSF page designer, it is incredibly easy to put together
web pages that look good but either use ILE programs for business logic, or
directly access DB2 data. It literally takes minutes to create a new query.

The only question mark right now is pricing, and I hope to hear more today.
I may be wrong, but I think they're really trying to get the product into
the hands of System i developers, particularly SMBs. And everything I've
heard so far about V6R1 indicates that the new release will make EGL a very
attractive option for modernizing your application.

Joe