Re: *** ADMIN: IMHO and Survey

IMHO the "IMHO" posts lately are too negative.  Same could be said for some
of the sarcasm in this forum.  I for one, am still very optimistic about the
future of the AS/400.  The reasons are many.  I'll share just one.

The Internet revolution has caused a dramatic shift in focus from
workstation based solutions to server based solutions.  Even Microsoft has
changed directions.  More resources are channeled into their middle-tier and
back-end products.  COM+, SQL Server, Multi-Tier Architecture, Message
Services, and Inter-Process communications are the areas of focus.  Problem
is, the more components you add to an NT server, the less stable it becomes.

But, my purpose is not to point out the weakness of NT but rather to
re-emphasize the strengths of the AS/400 as an application server.  For many
of us, our future projects will include a mixture of graphical thin-client
technologies (HTML, XML, Wireless Markup Language, Java Script, etc.), but
also AS/400 based "servers" to deliver content, handle business rules,
database access, communications, and do the hundreds of things that are best
handled by a server.

IBM emphasizes Java in it's application server framework, but many of us
favor ILE Languages instead.  RPG, C, and Cobol are excellent choices for
developing the server portion of a client-server application.  Because of
the emphasis on Java however, relatively few newcomers understand how
tightly integrated and optimized ILE languages are in the OS/400
architecture.  It is a mistake to think of RPG and Cobol as past their
prime.  The traditional use of these languages to support 5250 screens does
not preclude them from a major role in a client-server architecture.  I will
admit, however that ILE developers need a better framework - software
resources that make it as easy to support browser and thin client
application as it is to support 5250 applications.  This point might be a
call to action for this community.  Do we sit here and gripe about how IBM
and others just don't get it, or do we begin building/implementing
frameworks that enhance and take advantage of the AS/400's unique strengths?

The technology and economy of the Internet offer a great opportunity for the
AS/400.  Year 2000 is behind us.  Let's take advantage of this opportunity.




+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---