RE: Why MI? (Was: MI programmers list? Interested?) -- MIDRANGE-L

Does seem kinda weird, doesn't it.  I think IBM had to do a bit of extra
work to  support some of the things that exist only on the AS/400, but seems
like the development costs could come back faster if it were "priced to
sell."  <facetious> Maybe they wanted to recover the development costs on
the first five units. </facetious>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Campin [mailto:Alan.Campin@CaseLogic.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 10:25 AM
> To: 'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com'
> Subject: RE: Why MI? (Was: MI programmers list? Interested?)
> 
> 
> My question has always been. Why does IBM charges $2,000 for 
> an ordinary "C"
> compiler that is available for free on about everything else. 
> I can buy a
> complete C++ development system for less than $100 on NT but 
> pay $2,000 for
> nothing but an ordinary "C" compiler on the AS/400.
> 
> I thought the idea was to get people to write more programs 
> on the AS/400,
> not discourage them. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Crothers [mailto:bob@cstoneindy.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 4:25 AM
> To: 'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com'
> Subject: RE: Why MI? (Was: MI programmers list? Interested?)
> 
> 
> Colin,
> 
> On this list?  I would guess you are wrong.
> 
> There are a number of software vendors on the list and many 
> of us have 
> the ILE/C compiler.  So we would skew the number.
> 
> But in the general AS/400 population?  I would guess that the vast 
> majority of the shops do not have ILE/C.  It is one of those things 
> very hard to justify.  Especially if you have a large as/400 because 
> then it costs a lot.
> 
> Bob
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Colin Williams [SMTP:Williamsc@technocrats.co.uk]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 10:08 AM
> To:   'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com'
> Subject:      RE: Why MI? (Was: MI programmers list? Interested?)
> 
> Would I be right in saying that for 99.9% of the people on this list, 
> a
> C compiler is just not an option?
> 
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: boldt@ca.ibm.com [mailto:boldt@ca.ibm.com]
> >Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 1999 1:49 PM
> >To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> >Subject: Re: Why MI? (Was: MI programmers list? Interested?)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Jim wrote:
> >>I think the problem is, most of us don't have a C compiler on the
> >>box.  I know I don't, nor do any of the other 2 AS/400's we're
> >>using.  It comes down to you use what you have, whether it's
> >>best or not.  If I had a C compiler I would use it.  I don't have 
> it,
> >>so I'm not going to.
> >
> >I've always believed in using the appropriate tool for
> >the task at hand.  To me, for most of the reasons people
> >use MI, C is the more appropriate tool.
> >
> >To me, MI is a relic of the S/38 CISC architecture.
> >Certainly, at least a few people thought it was a good
> >idea at the time (late 1970's), but it has been superceded
> >by more current technology.  In the S/38 and CISC AS/400's,
> >it was the closest thing we had to an assembler language.
> >In the current RISC machines, the "assembly language" is C.
> >
> >I can certainly understand using MI when C is not available.
> >But I just don't want to encourage it.
> >
> >Cheers!  Hans
> >
> >Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com
> >
> >
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