Re: rpg conversion tools to java

["David Gibbs" <david@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Shields, Ken" <kenshields@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3D418C06473F4C419D2ADC4DD4B131DE09BEFC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I'm not a Java expert by any means, but I'm not aware that the Java
language is
> broad enough to replace an entire enterprise business system written in
RPG.

Any language can technically be converted into any other language (unless
the target language lacks the basic constructs required to replicate
functions in the source language)... it's just a mater of how much effort is
involved and how clean the conversion will be.

I would ask, while it is possible to convert a RPG program into Java, would
you really want to?  The languages take totally different approaches to
basic concepts (database, storage, etc).  The resultant Java code would
probably be horrendously ugly and next to impossible to understand & modify.

I suspect for this type of conversion, a total rewrite of the application is
probably in order ... starting at the basic business rules that are the
foundation of the original system, so they can be logically implemented in
Java.

All that said, I would also suggest that such a project is a fools errand
... any application that is reasonably well implemented in RPG is probably
poorly suited to be implemented in Java (unless the application is poorly
suited for RPG in the first place).

Of course, this is just my opinion ... I could be wrong (it's happened).

david