Re: RPG and Web.. (was Using OO concepts in RPG)

On Mon, 12 May 2003 11:39:29 -0400
 Hans Boldt <boldt@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Actually, it did have DB access. The original RPG example
> demonstrated building a web page using embedded SQL, and
> my shorter (debugged) version in Python did exactly the
> same. If my simple example written in Python gives a
> "false feeling of completion", then so would the original
> program written in RPG.

Did it run in PASE?  Did it need any DB drivers, or was it
native SQL access?  I am curious.

> 
> Cool? Yes indeed. Irrelevant? How many LOC would it take
> to implement a web server in RPG? Go ahead, use whatever
> procedure libraries you want. ;-)

Doesn't matter.  If it were that easy, Apache or CERN
wouldn't be a bajillion lines of code.  I could write an
RPG program to take simple requests to, but why?  IBM
already dropped the ball getting rid of the CERN based web
server.  Peer pressure even gets to the big boys.  :)

> I can point you to a testimonial where a programmer
> decided to do a project in Python without having done any
> serious work before in the language, and produced a
> working program in a very short time, even mastering some
> more complex aspects of the language to boot!
> (<http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=3882>)
> 
> Have you ever even tried Python, Brad? It's an amazingly
> easy language to pick up. In the time it takes to learn
> some new technique or new procedure library in RPG, you
> could be up and running in Python.

Yes I have.  And I like it.  But not for business
programming on the As/400.  Maybe there are more ports
available now that I haven't kept up with.  

I don't see where you think learning how to do something in
Python is easier than with RPG.  Oh, maybe for you, that's
understandable.  

> Anyways, like I said, the string replacement
> functionality is part of the native language, not in any
> of the numerous class libraries dedicated to web
> programming. To see how CGIDEV2 functionality compares to
> functionality in the base Python distribution, read the
> Python Library Reference
> (<http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/lib.html>) and
> check out Chapter 11 (Internet Protocols and Support),
> Chapter 12 (Internet Data Handling), and even Chapter 13
> (Structured Markup Processing Tools).

Read the docs.. oh boy.  You know, if RPG was created a few
years ago, it would no doubt have base functionality for
the web and we wouldn't be having these discussions.  

But, because it was created years ago when the web wasn't a
thought, it doesn't.  And it won't, so we need people like
Mel to do what IBM won't.  So you're comparing apples to
axle grease.  Why doesn't my 1978 Honda Civic have a GPS?
 It's base functionality in a 2003 Caddy.  I can buy a GPS
for my civic, though.  What's the difference?  

> But is Python only for "hobby" programming? Would its
> vast class library be built if it were only for the use
> of hobbyists? Of course not! It's being used
> professionally in lots of places in the "real world":
> NASA, Google, Yahoo, RealNetworks, Red Hat, IBM, Lawrence
> Livermore National Laboratories, Nortel, National Weather
> Service, the National Research Council of Canada, Walt
> Disney Feature Animation, to name a few.

Namedroppin and manual pointing.  Those aren't arguments.
 I didn't say Python was only for hobby programming, you
said you used it as a hobby language.  

Why not drop some names of AS/400 shops around the world
that have more meaning at least.  :)  I could give you a
huge list that aren't using Python with just as impressive
names.   :)

If RPG is so wrong for the web, it should be easy to say
why.  So far, I haven't heard anything of the like.  Just
the normal tangents and ramblings and twisted quotes we
always have.  <laugh>

Brad