Re: From RGP to ¿Java?

Scott Klement wrote:

CGIDEV2 is the best performing front-end method that I've tried, and is the easiest way for an RPG programmer to start. But it is lacking in tooling and frameworks (though, the ones that do exist are generally very good) and the pool of CGIDEV2 programmers you could hire to help you is comparatively small.

This is the best answer if you absolutely, positively don't want to learn something else.

PHP is the fastest growing. PHP seems to be dominating the attention at IBM i conferences, and is a great tool with excellent tooling, frameworks and support.

PHP has zero support for rich client.

EGL has many advantages over the alternatives, and has great tooling and frameworks, but I'm very skeptical about whether it'll ever gain a lot of developers. It's not free (USD $2000 per developer) like the alternatives, and is not an open community project, but rather a proprietary IBM one. Most people run it on a Java app server like WebSphere or Tomcat, which requires more system resources and expertise to run, but has some advantages in a large enterprise. EGL has interesting possibilities... I just don't know if it'll ever reach the critical mass it needs to succeed...

First, it's not $2000 per developer. RDi-SOA is $1200 more than RDi. If you're using ADTS (SEU and PDM) instead of RDi, you're not ready to build a web interface. Second, a new, free version of EGL is slated to be available REAL SOON NOW. It won't have enterprise integration, but it will allow you to create EGL Rich UI applications that consume web services.

As to critical mass, attend the Rational Developer's Conference and see what sort of support there is already.

Java, JSP, JSF... I've always found to be very difficult to learn. Just my opinion. I'm not a fan of Java, and even the Java experts lately seem to be recommending alternatives like EGL or PHP.

JSF is fantastic with the right tooling. Just so happens that EGL is the right tooling :).

Java isn't that hard to learn, but if you can't learn Java, you're not going to do a lot better with C#. Which brings us to...

.NET... I'm not a Microsoft fan. I've spent too much time fighting with Windows to ever want to use it for anything mission-critical.

Yeah, what Scott said.

Scott's later comments about the boutique languages and also about doing SOMETHING are right on.

Joe