Re: Software life cycle - was IF ACTIVE -- MIDRANGE-L

In my heart, I am in agreement regarding modernizing apps but there is a 
"CATCH-22" for AS/400 evangelists:  one of the big points made in 
marketing the AS/400 is it's ability to help a company retain it's 
investment in software.  So we need to be careful to balance our desires 
for progress against (at least one of) the strengths of our platform. 
 Lest I sound like an ultra-conservative "stick-in -the-mud" I have to 
admit that I am in the process of playing with Domino, learning Java, 
trying to convince certain folks to consider web-enabling their apps, 
etc.  I just wanted to present a little food for thought.  I also think 
I may have just set a new midrange-l record for cliches contained in a 
posting.  We're number one!

Kevin Palmquist




>From: Buck Calabro/commsoft<mcalabro@commsoft.net>
>Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:09:04 -0500
>To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
>Subject: Software life cycle - was IF ACTIVE
>Reply-To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com

>Have you considered rewriting your apps to take advantage of the native 
>environment?  I've been through too many conversions to keep quiet on 
this. 
> Converted code has the advantage of being up and running very quickly.  
It 
>also has the disadvantages of being fragile, hard to maintain and 
difficult 
>to upgrade.  It also freezes old application design into "new" code.  
Brand 
>new code can take advantage of the native environment in a way that 
>converted code never could, and you get to modernise your _application_ 
as 
>well as the code that makes it up.
>
>This is exactly how a 1975 application (batch entry, load a work file, 
>sort, print, update) stays an integral part of a 1999 software package. 
>This is exactly how a midrange programmer in 1999 has experience with 
MR 
>but not embedded SQL, which the rest of the world has been using for a 
>decade.  Old code should be allowed to die after some point - if it 
gets 
>too bad, it gets replaced by a package because the rewrite cost is just 
too 
>high.
>
>I apologise to all for the rant, but would appreciate comments on how 
>others perceive the software life cycle.  How many applications 
designed in 
>1975 do *you* think should be running today?
>
>Buck Calabro
>CommSoft, Albany, NY
>mailto:mcalabro@commsoft.net
>


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