Re: And so it continues...

Mark Murphy wrote:

I disagree, because that assumes that code generated from a tool is more fragile than something that
is hand coded. It is just not necessarily true.

Absolutely. If a code generator output buggy code, it would fail at it's prime task! I'm not, absolutely not saying that code generators generate fragile code.

The simple truth is that the tools make my life easier. Does a tool make a programmer out
of anybody? Not a chance. I've seen examples of that as well. Tools do make programmers more
productive, and in this world of cost cutting, that is a good thing. A good programmer using a good
code generator will run rings around an equally good programmer that is hand coding everything. And
assuming both programmers are equally good, the resulting code from the generator will be at least as
robust and likely more consistent than the hand written code.

Yes! I agree with every word. The issue is that we're talking about EGL newbies who are also web newbies. Newbies can take a wizard and create a proof of concept in a short while. Their ability to develop a robust application does not follow from that proof of concept.

The DeveloperWorks web page has a 'best practices' guide http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/dw/rational/doc/EGLBestPracticesMaster.doc I'm not going to quote vast chunks of it, but it's important to see what IBM thinks is necessary to generate a web app: EGL Developer, Web Page Designer, Javascript Developer, J2EE Developer (pg. 12.) We can substitute RPG/Cobol developer for J2EE if we adhere to Joe's 'front end only' plan. That still leaves Web page and Javascript skill sets, presuming there are wizards enough for the EGL skill set.

Have you met programmers who 'learnt' to program by reading generated Javascript and then using Google to 'understand' how it all works? With EGL, you will. And you'll see how readily they make changes that crash the app. Because they don't understand (yet.) That stuff will be fragile. Not the individual generated programs, but the whole thing as a coherent application that undergoes maintenance and change.
--buck