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In a previous company we used COBOL. Even though COBOL requires NO changes to be compiled as ILE, management had to be dragged kicking and screaming to ILE. (Their internal tables got SO large OPM would not support them anymore.) Even when they did compile some as ILE, they prefered to fight the mixed OPM/ILE environment hassles instead of just recompiling everything as ILE. (Boy, what hassles those where!) Basically, it came down to two reasons: 1: They did not want to improve the coders skill set for fear they would leave. 2: ILE was 'Not how we've always done it before'. (They still coded screens for the 36, and used an internally written utility to convert it to an AS/400 DSPF source member. No, they did not support the 36 anymore, it is just because that is how they'd always done it.) 3: Both management and coders did not know what the difference between ILE & OPM was, and feared what they did not know. Given that RPG III requires a conversion to RPG IV and then must be re-tested to make sure the conversion didn't miss something or induce new errors, I'd be hesitent to convert my mega-line programs over too. However, I would code new programs and major re-writes as ILE. = = = At the risk of starting a holy war, I think it is good that IBM is leaving out TAGs and GOTOs. Yes, there are times when they can make things easier, but unless used with disipline and restraint they just cause spagetti code. Personally, I NEVER use them, and don't allow folks under me to use them either. I have never had a situation where I could not code without one. Usually if I've coded myself into a situation where the best way out was a GOTO, then I've structured the logic wrong. Rethinking the problem has always lead to a cleaner, more logical structure. There is a reason SUN left them out of JAVA and IBM is leaving them out of FREE. . .
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