RE: Time to get serious

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Simon Coulter
> 
> Not true. RPG in all its dialects is a niche language.

Only for those who mistakenly consider the iSeries a niche computer.
Hundreds of thousands of them with a capitalization in the tens of
billions of dollars running everything from banks to hotels to
manufacturing plants worldwide belies any such marginalization, and yet
there are people who continue to try.  It's the most successful machine
never marketed, and yet some still believe it's a niche product with a
niche language.

The IBM midrange is, was, and will be an integral part of the IT
industry, no matter how much the unenlightened try to pretend it's not.


> There is no reason a modern computer science graduate should know RPG
> and even less reason they should know *of* RPG. It has no bearing on
> their most likely employment requirements.

Once again, it really depends on your viewpoint.  If you consider
pushing buttons on Visual Studio a programming job, then certainly you
can ignore the IBM midrange.  On the other hand, if you actually want to
program real business applications, the iSeries is the place to be and
RPG is the way to do it.


> COBOL is a major language. It has a presence on almost all
> platforms--and in a reasonably modern variant of the language too.

Now we're into "Simon's view of the world" and frankly, my opinion is
just as valid as yours.  Mine has better credentials, though <smile>.


> favour because most commercial midrange packages are written in some
> dialect of RPG.

I love it.  COBOL is a major language, but losing favor because most
midrange packages are written in RPG, which is not a major language.
You can say this and not even get the irony of it.


> To cling to the idea the RPG is the best language, primarily because
> that's the one you know best, says more about you than the language.

I'm fluent in enough programming languages that this statement is either
amusing or insulting.  Or maybe both <smile>.  And of all those
languages, RPG is absolutely, unequivocally the best language for
describing business rules contained in a database.  As I have challenged
every other person who disagrees with me I so challenge you: write an
MRP generation in any language you choose.  I'll write it in RPG, and
mine will be smaller, faster, better featured and more easily
maintainable than yours.  Not to mention written in less time.

Anyway, enough already.  Your opinion is duly noted, and given its
appropriate due.  Luckily, IBM disagrees with you, and in the end that's
all that matters.

Joe