Re: RPG Cycle

[Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

James,

Modern programming techniques teach n-tier programming. Separating the
presentation layer from the application layer from the database layer from
the messaging layer, and so on.

How can you claim to be a modern language if you are using O-specs? Making
your file processes an integral part of your application program is a step
backwards.

Sure, an understanding of the cycle and its benefits is key to learning RPG.
But coding with it is no longer needed.


Trevor


On 8/20/07 4:11 PM, "James Lampert" <jamesl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Level breaks, O-specs, and such, them's hard. I freely admit that I
> haven't been able to make constructive use of them (beyond putting LR in
> the "Level" column on a statement to be executed only after The Cycle
> has completed). But level breaks are only part of The Cycle, and O-specs
> are peripheral to it.
>
> The concept of an implicit DO-loop enclosing the entire main program,
> with implicit reads of optional primary and secondary files, controlled
> either by the primary file (if used) or by explicitly setting the LR
> indicator on in response to some other event (as in using The Cycle as
> the event loop of an interactive program) is simplicity itself.
>
> If a programmer undertakes to learn RPG, and can't figure out the easy
> part of The Cycle, and how to make constructive use of it, he or she is
> in the wrong line of work. If formal instruction in RPG fails to fully
> cover level breaks and O-specs, at least in the advanced class, then
> whoever designed the curriculum is in the wrong line of work.