RE: Fast400 Value to iSeries community is less than zero

[Jim Damato <jdamato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Joe Pluta:
>This is your client/server infrastructure, which you design once.  You
>have a request broker that handles these details.  It determines whether >a
given service is running, and if not, initiates it.  It can create >multiple
instances, adjust priorities, and all kinds of nice things.  >It's work, but
not that much, especially for a relatively simple >environment.  And most
importantly, you only write this code once!


I always enjoy your posts because you talk about the types of code I would
have loved to have worked on -- before those bastards cut out half my brain
and made me a manager.

You say "it's work, but not that much."  I think you might be too smart
and/or have too much experience to know how hard it is.  So many of the
development shops I've worked in or encountered wouldn't have a clue how to
accomplish what you've described.  Small to medium development groups don't
have Software Architecture Engineers or even Systems Programmers.  They're
full of "Application Programmers" who know how to apply application logic to
programs.  You're lucky to find someone with a major in DP, let alone
Computer Science education.  Particularly on the AS/400 we depend on our OS
environment to provide interfaces to users, systems, and databases.

I've watched quite a few failed or half-assed client server, and now web
development projects.  Folks assume that they can set up a bunch of forms
that cough up SQL statments and that the network, system, and database will
handle everything.  These are the expectations of most in-house and
consultant design teams I've met.

A 5250 based environment was more forgiving of sloppy design.  Behind us we
have years of successful development based on primitive or just plain bad
software architecture.  I think you're right that a standard, modular
infrastructure can simplify code and insulate you from client and server
dependencies.  Most of us, however, are waiting for someone to write it for
us.

Let me know when you're finished.

-Jim

James P. Damato
Manager - Technical Administration
Dollar General Corporation
jdamato@dollargeneral.com