RE: PL/I on V4R1?

[Bob Crothers <bcrothers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don,

But if we followed your argument (everybody use one language), 
we'd all be using Assembler.

Reality says that we do only use a small handful of languages. 
My guess would be that if we where to take a survey, across 
platforms, the vast majority of the code out there would be 
written in one of three or four languages.

In the IBM Midrange world, about %80 or %90 would be RPG 
followed by Cobol and then maybe 1 or 2% "everything else".

Under Windows, C or C++ would be the winner but by not as large 
of a margin as RPG on the /400.  Followed by VB and Delphi.  And 
then of course "Everything Else".

In the Mainframe world, it is probably Cobol followed by I do 
not know what...I don't visit this world.

In Unix/AIX, C/C++ probably wins.

So there you have it.  Most of the world does only use a few 
languages: Cobol, C/C++, RPG.  And yes, RPG does belong up 
there.  There is a LOT of RPG out there on System/36's---the 
most successful computer out there.  So it turns out that you 
are one of the ones trying to splinter language usage!

As to the pro's and con's of PL/1 vs C, I can not really comment 
since I know nothing about PL/1.  But the market place has 
decided: C is it over PL/1.

I am not opposed to new languages.  That is what drives language 
improvements.  Without competition, things don't change.

Regards,
Bob Crothers
Cornerstone Communications



-----Original Message-----
From:   Don [SMTP:dr2@access.digex.net]
Sent:   Tuesday, December 30, 1997 6:15 PM
To:     Bob Crothers
Cc:     'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com'; Walden Leverich
Subject:        RE: PL/I on V4R1?



On Tue, 30 Dec 1997, Bob Crothers wrote:

> Why do we need C on the AS/400?  Because there is a LOT of
> software in the world that is written in C.  Good, Bad or
> indifferent, C is much more common than PL1 or even RPG.
>


No argument here.

My point is simple this:  Think of how much MORE would be 
available if the
industry hadn't allowed itself to fragment the languages!  Think 
how much
MORE would be available if we were using FEWER languages and 
just added
standardized functionality....

There's basically nothing in C that wasn't in the full blown 
versions
(non-midrange versions) of PL/I or that could have been easily 
added
later to the language definition.....

Don in DC metro

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