Re: Using OO concepts in RPG

[Hans <boldt@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Booth Martin wrote:

> If we are talking about making RPG and UB2/400 into poor copy of other
> languages, then that is a bad thing in my mind.
> 
> Sometimes I have the feeling that all of us lose track of what RPG stands
> for.  Report Program Generator.  That is what RPG is, and in my opinion
> where it should remain.  There is no other good report generator program
> on
> the planet and we are asking that it wander from its roots.  My own
> opinion is that enhancements in RPG should stand the Litmus Test of "Will
> it help programmers generate better reporting?"
> 
> If we need enhancements then let the enhancements be directed to
> outputting
> HTML reports and pretty printing.  We could be screaming for a useable RLU
> product, or the ability to print in color, or good interfaces to inkjet
> printers, or true font choices.  We could be asking for easy e-mailing of
> reports, being able to print "Page x of XX",  standard stationary that
> includes watermarks and headings and can be used in a report just by
> naming it.
> 
> Writing reports is where RPG won its wings, and where it should remain in
> my
> opinion.  I have no desire to see RPG turned into a poor rip-off of Java
> or
> C++.  Let those languages do their own work and let RPG do its own work.

Well said! I was going to reply to Joe's posting, but then your's came in 
and stated my point better than I could.

BTW, I know I'm going to get into trouble for this, but check out 
<http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/05/08/FutureLanguage>, along 
with the three referenced pages in the first two paragraphs. I post the 
link since if we're discussing adding OO to RPG, it's important to 
understand what OO really is, and that page (along with the three 
referenced pages) illustrates some of the points I've been trying to make. 
I know that risks getting into philosophical discussions, but then again, 
it's important to understand the philosophy behind OO.

Anyways, I'm going to step back now, and if there's something immediately 
applicable to RPG within the forseeable future, I'll take note. Otherwise, 
if you want to discuss adding OO to RPG, I'm going to assume that it will 
be implemented by a C++-like pre-processor involving an open-source effort 
by interested RPG'ers.

Cheers! Hans