RE: I'd rather do it myself

[Colin Williams <Williamsc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Re: I'd rather do it myself

Maybe what we need is an area where we can trade our own %bifs, eg you get the source code for a %bif you require if you supply one %bif yourself, and your %bif is

added to the list of %bifs available.

-----Original Message-----
From: Leisk, Andrew [mailto:aleisk@frpaper.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2000 7:45 PM
To: 'midrange-l@midrange.com'; 'Stone, Brad V (TC)'
Subject: Re: I'd rather do it myself

Brad  said:

Well, they are there.  Now I just need help telling people where they are.
Not only should programmers help write these types of things, but when they
are there, they should also point people to the right direction.  The AS/400
community seems to have a "I'd rather do it myself" type of attitude than
point someone to a place where things already exist. 

Makes me think that maybe someday instead of each of us getting the compiler from IBM and then writing our own code in RPG, we will do like the 'C' community has been doing for years and years selling include files that can extend the language.  Why must we get %bifs from IBM?  Why can't someone write some really good general purpose business functions (call them Procedures) and sell the procedures as "language extensions".  So if I wanted some new functionality I could "call" an function in a service program that Brad (for example) had written and sold to me. 

Make the language grow to be more than just what IBM sells with the compiler.  When one buys a 'C' compiler one can also get extensions to it.  Or maybe this is like adding "beans" to Java.  The same thing could be done now with RPG/IV if it were marketed right and IF we could update the mind sets of most of us to not think like "I'd rather do it myself".