RE: RPG Cycle (was Reinventing Code)

I agree. 

Applause!


Booth

I had a 12 week course in RPG II, using the cycle, back in 1984. I also
had a 12 week course
in COBOL at that time.

Given the choice between COBOL and RPG II...I would choose COBOL.

RPG III, 400, or RPGIV on the other hand...offer the structured
programming concepts
which RPG II does not.

Given that the newer RPG is much less wordy than COBOL and much more
prevalent on AS400
I haven't written any COBOL since about 1986. I've been coding in RPG
III, 400, and IV since that time.

One of the shops I started out at was Samsonite Corp. Corporate Office.
Samsonite had many COBOL and RPG Guru's.
It was one these guys that taught me the joys of structured RPG and i've
been writing code that way ever since.

However...I have run across a vast amount of RPG II cycle style code...I
don't see much of it any more....THANK GOD.

All I can say is....if you like using the cycle and it works for
you...fine. Personally I hate it.
Probably because I have seen very few cycle type programs that were
simple and straight forward. They may have started out that way but they
sure didn't end up that way.

Another thing...an RPG Report program with level breaks , written on an
AS400 is about the simplest thing there is for a programmer to learn,
code and make a living at.

Everywhere I have worked I have been complimented on my coding style.
EVERYONE understands it, no questions asked.

With me, it is not that I don't understand the RPG Cycle. I understand
it all too well. The cycle forces me into it's FIXED logic.

What if I revisit this code later and requirments have changed and now I
come to find that I will need to read this file forwards,
backwards...start in the middle...start at the end....READE by
key...etc...etc...etc...

Let me ask you this

How many News/400 Tech writers do you see expounding on RPG Cycle coding
?
How many expounding on structured code using structured op codes...etc ?

Now ask yourself why that is

Then

Study some simple well written RPG programs that don't use the cycle.
The benefit to me is all to obvious.

I bet if you look back a few years, like when RPG III initially started
out and the new op codes were added at that time....check out some
News/38 from that period...you will find articles galore on this
subject.
These guys explain it better than I can.

I have seen so much ugly RPG to the point of requiring me to double up
on my medication at times. This may account for some of my disdain for
cycle coded programs.

The proof for me is in all the compliments I have received from those
that have worked with my code. I'm not talking about writing the most
scientifically complex stuff.
As an RPG programmer I can do just fine. I don't about know about
Java...i'm sure I could learn
some of that to a degree.

I don't think there is any other language out there that is as easy as
RPG and CL along with OS400 and DB2/400.

My point is...like the report program example I posted...hey, it's just
a simple report program...in fact..it is so simple that there is no need
to even discuss whether it should be cylce coded, or structured
coded...it's just a simple computer program...period.

Course if I later have to start chaining to other files...print two
detail lines instead of one, followed by the constant..."THE AS400 IS
COOL"...stop halfway through the file then begin reporting to the same
print file from records from another file...etc...etc..etc...
It would still be simple

Not so if I had to first get rid of that dreaded INPUT PRIMARY
stupidity.

If your going to create a program using input primary then you are in
effect saying this program will never require full procedural processing
of that input primary file.

Fat Chance

But...do whatever you like...having to rewrite RPG is one of the things
that keeps us employed.
The benefits of not using the cycle are there for those that want to
take advantage of them.
The real crime in all of this discussion is to begrude those of us that
take good advice from the
very best AS400 pro's in the world...and follow it.

That's about all I have to say on this.
The way things are going these days...if you can spell RPG...your my
best friend.

: )

Happy Coding

--
Jim Welsh
Programmer/Analyst
Halkey-Roberts Corporation - St. Pete FL
727-577-1300 x279
http://www.netcom.com/~jimwelsh/welcome/welcome.html
mailto:jimwelsh@ix.netcom.com


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