RE: WebSphere Development ToolSet and a beginner

> From: Peter Vidal
>
> "Webby" is the word.  I will be using the browser (IE Explorer 5.5)

Alright, most screen scrapers are out here if you want something that's
really "weblike".  Unless they use JSPs, it's almost impossible to make them
look anything like, say, Amazon.com or eBay.  Most screen scrapers directly
convert your 5250 screens into 5250 in a browser.

Plus, it looks like you're ready for the wide world of client/server
programming, which I'll address in a moment.


> "2. Are you developing intranet, extranet or Internet
> applications?  (That is,
> are your users local, on a WAN/VPN, or surfing in off the web?)"
>
> Intranet.

This is a good thing, because it means that you can spend a little less time
(for now) worrying about performance issues.  This is not to say you should
create big, bloated web pages!  But instead, that you don't have to worry
about the complexities of JavaScript caching and JPEG optimization and image
servers and all that.  You'll probably address those concerns later, because
interestingly enough just about every successful internal web project I've
seen, once it goes into production somebody looks at it and says, "Hey,
wouldn't it be great if Customer ABC could access the XYZ application?".


> "3. What are your skill sets, and are you willing to learn more?"
> Absolutely that I want to learn more!  I have been working with
> RPG since 1987.
> Worked on S36, AS400 and now iSeries.  Since 2001 I have been
> exposed to the
> world of CGIs, HTMLs, Net.Data and on the last weeks, Javascript.
>  No training,
> mentors around, just books and forums like this (thank God for those!).

Okay, at this point you now have to decide whether you're still in the
"noodling around" stage (which means you can change your mind and suffer the
costs without losing your job) or you're in the "time to pick an
architecture we can live with" stage.  If it's the latter, you have to take
a deep breath and assess whether you think you can pick up enough Java and
also learn web application servers in time to do this project.  If not,
you're going to have to go RPG-CGI or Net.data.

However, all is not cast in stone yet!  If you design your application
properly, you may still be able to move to JSP Model 2 down the road if
conditions warrant.  This is where the whole client/server thing comes into
play, also known as "separating the user interface and the business logic".
If you can design your software in such a way that ALL of your business
logic is encapsulated in called programs that do no UI work, then you can
write RPG-CGI or Net.data programs today that call the business logic, then
at some point down the road you can conceivably switch your user interface
to JSP Model 2 (or thick PC client, or PDAs, or whatever) and still call the
same business logic servers.

If you have the power to make those decisions today, and you do a good job
of modularizing (or "tiering") your architecture, then you will have a lot
of flexibility down the road.

Joe