Re: CODE/400

Chris,

In a message dated 98-03-10 02:18:55 EST, you write:

<<snip>>
> Code/400s primary purpose is not a PC or GUI application developer, for
>  that there is VisualAge for Java, VisualAge Generator, VisualAge for
>  Basic, etc. Code/400 is for editing RPG code using a PC based editor that
>  allows many extra features by taking advantage of the PC environment for
>  developing.
>  
>  Does that make more sense? Can you see why, in this case, the cost
>  justification should be how much development time it saves for RPG
>  programmers?

I understood what CODE did from the beginning.  That's why I told Jon that,
were I still in the business of selling application software and/or had a shop
full of RPG developers, I'd buy CODE/400 in a heartbeat.  What I was trying to
illustrate was that, in the last 3 major clients I've had, the AS/400 was the
"minority" platform -- far outnumbered by DEC's, HP's, Tandems, ES/9K's, you
name it.  With a few exceptions, the majority of the developers I've worked
with at these sites were yanked off of the other platforms and cannot read the
RPG that the AS/Set CASE tool generates -- so why would they care that their
GUI tool generated RPG?

These sites also generally have an "approved tool/language" list from
Corporate, into which AS/Set gets proxied only because their chosen MRP II
application is written in it.  Nine times out of ten, Headquarters would
prefer something like Synon that generated an approved language such as COBOL.
With today's development focus (other than Y2K) focused on developing C/S
applications, why would one of these clients choose an unapproved tool that
generates an unapproved language that the majority of their developers cannot
read?

Yes, if you are an all-RPG shop, with all-RPG developers (that are all happy
to remain so), CODE is _GREAT_.  If you have an all-RPG application that you
need to rapidly "ramp-up" to C/S, CODE is great.  If you didn't want RPG in
your shop in the first place, maybe CODE isn't so great.  And no, most things
beginning with "VA/" are _NOT_ on the "approved tools" list at these clients
-- even the die-hard mainframers remember getting burned by CSP/AE...

In closing, I'd like to apologize to both you and the rest of the list for the
tone of my last missive on this subject.  It appears that the flu, once it's
through with your immune system, goes to work on your self-control and tact
;-)...

Regards!

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"After thirty, a body has a mind of its own." -- Bette Midler

P.S.  Hope you're feeling better as well ;-)...
root
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