RE: Using % type functions/using RPG IV

[Colin Williams <Williamsc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

But is there a cost advantage?

-----Original Message-----
From: Bale, Dan [mailto:DBale@TFSA.Textron.com]
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 8:47 PM
To: 'RPG400-L@midrange.com'
Subject: RE: Using % type functions/using RPG IV


Colin,

In the context of John's post on the value of petitioning those 
3rd party
vendors still stuck updating code originally written in the 
70's, I stand by
my opinion.

Just to clarify, remember that I said that the vendors don't 
give a rat's
ass about the people who have to support and maintain the product, the
_programmers_.  They don't care that I (and every other 
programmer in the
world) think their code is mangled piece of crap.  They don't 
care that I
have to drill down through 50 subroutines to find the function 
that I need
to modify.  They don't care that I get eye strain looking at 
code that makes
it difficult to see that certain statements are commented out.  
Yada, yada,
yada.

No.  The 3rd party vendors sell to the CEOs of the world.  And 
so I wonder
whether John's idea of petitioning to get packages rewritten in 
RPG-IV would
be better done from the demand-side of the equation.  That means that,
somehow, we must communicate to the decision-makers the importance of
including the condition of the source code as a factor to 
consider in buying
3rd party packages.  And then proving to them that there is a real cost
advantage to modifying newer, structured code over modifying ancient,
monstrous spaghetti code.  It means that MIS would have to be 
_legitimately_
involved in the decision making process (you'd be surprised) 
and that MIS
managers must involve experienced programmers in reviewing 
vendors' source
code.  

When pigs fly?

Sigh...

- Dan Bale

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