Re: Re[2]: RPG TALENT--Global issue -- MIDRANGE-L

Sorry, but I can't take a bow. In my opinion, the preferred
language on the AS/400 will become Java.  Java is big, and
getting bigger.  It's a more important language now after 3
years of development than C++ was after the same period of
time. And rightfully so. Since it omits the ugly features of
C++, programmers can be at least twice as productive using
Java.  Because the JVM on the AS/400 is second to none, many
of us here believe Java is destined to greatness on that
machine.

Will RPG disappear?  No, of course not.  There's too much
RPG code out there.  Unfortunately, RPG still lacks such
important modern programming features as OOP and type
definitions (after 40 years) and probably never will have.
As a result, over time, less and less new code will be
written in RPG.

BTW, I've been learning Java in my spare time and I've never
had so much fun programming!

Cheers!  Hans

Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com




owner-midrange-l@midrange.com on 98-05-28 11:40:35
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Subject: Re[2]: RPG TALENT--Global issue



Seems to me that RPG _CAN_AND_WILL_ remain the preferred programming language on
the AS400. ILE RPG overcomes most of the restrictions we've had to deal with in
the past, and IMO, has become every bit as robust and flexible as "C" and its
cousins "C++" and "Java". Hats off to the crew at Toronto (Hans, take a bow).

Personally, I'd rather have to run naked through a briar patch than have to code
apps in "C". (Then again, coding C could be like running naked in a briar
patch.... lots of pointers)

Why is everyone so sure that the talent pool for AS400 is diminishing? Like
everything else, when PC programmers are falling all over themselves competing
with forty other applicants for a single programming position that pays barely
over minimum wage, there's going to be a steady migration toward other systems,
such as the as400.

Eric A DeLong
ericadelong@pmsc.com

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________


RPG may have been our legacy but it certainly shouldn't - and won't - be our
future. So why not give a 'C' course on the AS/400? That way we can teach
familiarity with the machine and the operating system - far more valuable
commodities than some rudimentary RPG.
>
>+---
Tim  what  might the market  be for that skill today?
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