RE: When an AS/400 is called an iSeries

I have to disagree. I know several cases where
vendors will offer a paid-up license to source code
they've written in RPG.

Yes - of course. But that wasn't my point. With RPG, you're restricted
to the IBM System i. And you can't just go and port RPG Code, as i5/OS
is the only platform that runs it. So if you have to port from RPG to
another language, all your RPG knowledge has become worthless.

With Java, switching platforms still incurs some cost, but it's much
more manageable than rewriting an RPG app in another language. Plus your
Java skills are worth the same no matter the platform. (Though some JVM
specific knowledge might not apply to any platform).

it seems to me that most people learn RPG through self study and

practice

How would that work? You'd need a job that already does RPG, and access
to a test environment.

Both Java and .NET/C# offer completely free development environments
(Eclipse, JDK and Visual Studio Express). Anyone with a computer (and in
the case of .NET/C#, Windows) can learn to program at home, in self
study.

But you can't learn RPG that way. Even a 515 with 5722WDS would come
close to 10'000 US$ - much more than 0 the other platforms have.

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathan Andelin
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2007 12:37 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: When an AS/400 is called an iSeries

From Lucas B.
Java is a different animal - Java is going Open Source and available

on

almost every halfway sane platform.

Okay. I think I get your point that open source prevents vendor
lock-in, which I agree with. But vendor A may code in Java, and never
release the source, while Vendor B may code in RPG and release the
source.

Open source is not an attribute of a language, unless of course you go
with a scripting language like PHP, or JavaScript, which are interpreted
at runtime, and unless I'm mistaken don't run in binary or encrypted
format.

From Lucas B.
RPG is vendor lock-in at it's finest. RPG has it's very own world,

that is > completely different from all mainstream languages.

I have to disagree. I know several cases where vendors will offer a
paid-up license to source code they've written in RPG.

From Lucas B.
How many students do you know that know RPG? What's the average
age of an RPG programmer? How many people do you know that never > had

to work with a System i, but are now learning RPG?

Despite a number of formal educational initiatives, it seems to me that
most people learn RPG through self study and practice. To me the
services offered by the native runtime environment carry more weight
then any of the languages supported therein, but RPG just happens to be
the most prevalent of the ILE languages, and the one IBM has been
modernizing the most.

I know several Unix/C programmers that have switched to using
.NET/C# - but I've never seen somebody switch to RPG/System i.
I would be interested in samples/experiences from others on this list.
Do you know people that switched e.G. from .NET/C# or Java to RPG?

Yes, one of my colleagues switched from Unix-C to ILE-RPG. I formerly
to developed under Microsoft's frameworks (predating .Net), then
switched to ILE-RPG.


With Regards,

Nathan M. Andelin