Why we don't use procedures more (was MOVE opcode in freeform /strangebehavior w/%editc)

Bob, Nelson, et al,

I think I'm in the middle here, and I don't think I'm unique.  I
desperately want to start and continue using procedures more, but I have
had certain barriers in my way, such as the fact that I work on a lot of
legacy stuff, at a high hourly rate, and I don't feel I should spend my
clients money "learning new stuff" or adding , and the lack of a
peer/mentor whom I would work with daily to brainstorm on when and why
using a procedure is a good thing, and when it's just fluff.  I used to
have the time, and the peers to learn the new stuff, but I'm kinda 'lonely'
now.

And I'm not completely unfamiliar with the concept either:  for years and
years, I've segregated duplicate code to programs that I can call from
anywhere, just passing and returning parameters.  I do 90% of my new
programs in rpgiv, but I still use a plain call to these "service
programs".  I just don't bind or prototype them.

The ibm manuals seem to compound the problem because they tend to tell you
too much - i don't have the time to dig through them and can't see the
forest for the trees, so to speak.  I need to get to the meat of something,
bang it around a few times, then use the manuals for reference.

maybe an FAQ entry on "procedure prototyping 101" with step by step
explanations of the "how and why" of a simple procedure might help.

I think the vast majority of us would love to start using them, and would
if we had the backing of those who sign our checks and a jumpstart....

ttfn,

rick

---original message---
Nelson,

I think the problem is that anything new is, well, new. People in
general don't like change. Which is strange to me, why would you get
into programming if you don't accept change? I don't know.  Yo no sa.

Procedures are the single biggest enhancement to RPG in 20 years--even
bigger than RPG IV itself. Why? Because they provided a way for the RPG
programmer to effectively extend and enhance the RPG language. Now
here's something that is not only "free" (as a midrange programmer
defines "free", which means, "the company paid for it with their upgrade
fees or software subscription") and yet few shops have embraced it. Why?
Perhaps because is requires change. :(


Bob Cozzi
cozzi@rpgiv.com
Visit the on-line  Midrange  Developer  forum at: http://www.rpgiv.com