Re: Offload from the AS/400

>In a message dated 97-11-05 12:48:01 EST, atostain@crecomp.com (Art Tostaine,
>Jr.) wrote:
>
><< Guess what, the 400 is slow! >>
>
>Hank Heath replied (in part):
>
>I've been dealing with this statement for years. It is an absolute falsehood.
>Sorry, guys, but it is. The AS/400 is a damned fast machine.
>
>The applications that I have seen written for it are some of the worst
>garbage I've had to deal with, though. The competency of many of the RPG
>programmers in creating a decent system has been missing.


Amen, Brother!  We've had our share of in-house programmers, but the folks
who design packages, and a bunch of the consultants we've had, can't
program either.  And when we try to show them the error their ways, they
don't want to hear about it.  They blame the AS/400 for being slow.  When
we can show them a simple technique to improve their code.


>Why? Because most of the programmers were "grown," not developed.
>[Hey, he's a decent operator.  Let's give him a chance to write programs.]


Home-grown is NOT the problem.  We've had several -great- programmers that
were home-grown.  The key is that they didn't pick up programming
on-the-fly; they attended local college classes and learned programming the
'right' way.


>IMHO, the main problem this platform has is the level of professionalism of
>its developers. Be honest. Those of you in the systems arena (many of the
>readers of this list): how often do you face a run-away application that
>*could* run so much better if the programmers only knew what they were doing?


HALLELUJAH, BROTHER!  We've dealt with some 'amateur' developers who have
no discipline... latest problem is trying to force them to use our CMS
system:  "That'll slow us down, we won't be able to meet the deadlines."
And our management caves in every time.  *sigh*


--Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@ix.netcom.com.omit.this.part



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