Re: VB and the as400 -- MIDRANGE-L

Interesting stuff!  

The bigger question is, what's the learning curve from ILE RPG to VB.NET?

-reeve


On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:40:14 -0500, MWalter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<MWalter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Walden,
> 
> What is the learning curve from VB to VB.net?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mark
> 
> Mark D. Walter
> Senior Programmer/Analyst
> CCX, Inc.
> mwalter@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.ccxinc.com
> 
>              "Walden H.
>              Leverich"
>              <WaldenL@techsoft                                          To
>              inc.com>                  "Midrange Systems Technical
>              Sent by:                  Discussion"
>              midrange-l-bounce         <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>              s+mwalter=hanover                                          cc
>              wire.com@midrange
>              .com                                                  Subject
>                                        RE: VB and the as400
> 
>              01/20/2005 10:20
>              AM
> 
>              Please respond to
>              Midrange Systems
>                  Technical
>                 Discussion
>              <midrange-l@midra
>                  nge.com>
> 
> Angela,
> 
> You mention VB, not VB.Net. Unless there's a _really good_ business
> reason for using "old" VB I'd have her learn VB.Net. (Actually I'd
> suggest you dump VB in favor of C#, but if you must use VB...) Think of
> VB.NET vs VB this way: You could learn RPG/400 -- it's still in use, and
> you can get a lot done with it --  but why not learn RPG/IV and ILE
> instead? It's more productive, that's where all the enhancements will
> be, and that's where all the current education is focused.
> 
> As for learning it, I wouldn't confuse the issue by including the
> iSeries in the mix. I know in the end she'll be connecting to an
> iSeries, but what she needs to learn first is simply how to use VB and
> ADO (VB.NET and ADO.NET?) to access a relational database. Once she
> understands how to use the tool to develop applications, the iSeries is
> just another database from her point of view. She calls a stored
> procedure, simple. The fact that that stored proc is an RPG program and
> it calls 10 CLs, 5 Cobol programs, uses 3 data areas, 2 users spaces and
> a data queue isn't relevant to her at all -- it's a black box.
> 
> Microsoft's MSDN site (msdn.microsoft.com) is probably the best
> reference out there, the only problem with it is it's huge! I didn't try
> to find VB6 stuff, but if she were to start w/
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/using/gettingstarted/default.aspx and
> move onto
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/using/understanding/data/default.aspx
> to understand data she'd have a good foundation.
> 
> Whether you choose "classic" or .NET (although it's even more important
> w/.NET) you need to decide what type of applications she'll be building.
> There are three main types of development in the MS world, thick-client
> (WindowsForms), thin-client (WebForms), and data layer (COM/Assemblies).
> If you can focus her on either Web or Windows-based development she'll
> be much better off. Both environments are huge, and if she can ignore
> one or the other it's much less she needs to get her head around. She'll
> be learning data layer either way.
> 
> I must say that I've never been a fan of IBM's toolkit for VB. I think
> it's written much too much from an iSeries programmers point of view,
> not from a VB point of view. The most successful implementations of VB
> to iSeries I've seen are when the VB people think of the iSeries as just
> another database.
> 
> -Walden
> 
> ------------
> Walden H Leverich III
> President & CEO
> Tech Software
> (516) 627-3800 x11
> WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.TechSoftInc.com
> 
> Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
> (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Angela Wawrzaszek
> Sent: Wednesday, 19 January, 2005 08:36
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: VB and the as400
> 
> Does anyone know if there is any kind of education for Visual Basic and
> the AS400.   I have a VB programmer who has been starting to write
> interfaces with the as400.  She is struggling with the data type matches
> and just general processing of a relational database.   She has always
> worked with simple access databases.
> 
> Any suggestions would be great!
> 
> Angela Wawrzaszek
> 
> IT Supervisor
> 
> awawrzaszek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> (315) 258-4205
> 
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