RE: "Webulating" RPG

** Reply to note from mcrump@ballfoster.com Wed, 25 Feb 1998 11:36:25 -0500

> All this talk has reminded me to review this product as an option.

Please do. If you have an AS/400 RPG shop, Code/400 is a productivity
improvement. These days, when it is nearly impossible to find all the
programmers you need, Code/400 is like adding staff members for a flat fee.


> Here is a general observation (in list language = open door for flames):
> Over the years I have gotten the impression that AS/400 shops in general
> do not adapt new technology real well.  I remember reading a study
> regarding
> CASE (this is not a plug for CASE) that indicated that the implementation
> level
> of CASE products was significanlty lower than any other platform.  I wonder
> if
> you could say the same for other tools (visual editors, change control,
> 4GL, etc.).

You are SSSSSOOOOOO right!

The guys in the AS/400 community are like this:

I say, "You would find that a Pentium II would run faster than that 8086."

Response, "I ain't gonna buy that 'chip of the month'. Y'all said the 8088
would be faster, then y'all said the 80286 was faster, then y'all said the
80386 was faster. You remember all that? Well, I'm not stupid enough to
spend my hard earned money on them processors that come next month you'll
be telling me aren't the fastest any more."

I say, "Yes, it is true that it might not be wise to buy everything down
the pike, but it's worth considering when you realize that the current
processor runs about 3200 times as fast as the one you are using."

"Look, this chip has been running reliably since '82. Can any of them
Pentiums say that?"

"Well, there is a lot of new software that runs on the new processors..."

"Don't get me started! Damn IBM screwed us when they gouged us for the
money and sold us these 8088s, then just up and quit developing new
software for them! I think all us 8088 owners oughta file a class action
suit against IBM for not porting OS/2, Win95, and WinNT to this chip! And
another thing..."

(The events depicted are fiction, any relation to conversations here on the
list is simply coincidence)

> I wonder if the perceived lack (I say perceived since I know nothing about
> the
> numbers) of installations using CODE/400 is a result of:
> 1.) Short sighted management/development staff
> 2.) Resistance to change
> 3.) FUD
> 4.) All of the above

I think resistance to change is a biggy, but here is something else:

NT buyers are the guys who change for sake of change (I am generalizing for
God's sake! Lighten up!)

AS/400 buyers are the guys who still have their System/32 manuals in the
closet just in case they need to refer to them. 

Somewhere out there are the really good managers willing to evaluate new
items that they want to use, but they became numb around '89-'90. By that
time they had seen so much bullshit released into the market with
completely false advertisements about what it would do for you, that they
got to the point of not looking at anything. 

Now, that same manager that wasted 10 months of 1990 evaluating "miracle
cures" that turned out to be total guarbage waits to see if a product
catches on in the rest of the market. If everyone else buys it and swears
that it is perfect, they will add it to their arsenal. Otherwise, they just
don't look. These guys also can't imagine how the NT buyers manage to stay
employed. 


> Anybody able to discuss Code/400 costs in general?  I've been tasked to
> configure a development machine and might just include it in the software
> costs.  Also, is there support for COBOL/400?

I think it is about $1000 for the AS/400 side license, and $400 a seat for
programmers. That might be without the VisualAge for RPG license. If you
plan on developing client side stuff, VA RPG is a good idea, but even if
you just plan on plodding along with RPG, Code/400 will be like hiring an
extra programmer.

> Chris, when don't you work on your email???????

I'm getting about 120 messages a day. I handle them whenever I can.
Sometimes it means that by the time I get a chance to read a post it is
really untimely to answer. 

I have often been forced by time restrictions to pass on responding to
posts or getting involved in discussions that I wanted to. But I try to
mouth off about the stuff I feel strongest about.

 

Chris Rehm
Mr.AS400@ibm.net

How often can you afford to be unexpectedly out of business?
Get an AS/400.
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