Steve,
Your statement seems to suggest that you think RPG is inferior to java simply because RPG is not an OO language. So, regardless of what RPG is capable of, it is a 2nd grade product. Am I reading you message correctly?
I want to first state that my java skill is at an entry level and java is all I've in regard to my OO knowledge: So statements below are base on my personally experience with java vs RPG:
1) In java, you almost always have use a java class to do something. Although java class has so neat features (extendable, inheritance, encapsulation,..), it is quite cumbersome when needing to do some simple task. Some simple tasks like adding value of 5 decimal variables (classes) can be quite lengthy and hard to read in java. I need to download a utility from Apache just to be able to save value of a variable (class) to another variable (another class). And this utility requires you to code you class in a java bean compliant format.
2) It seems like there is always somewhere in the internet where somebody has created a jar file that contains some of the stuffs that you want to implement. That sound like a good think, doesn't it? It doesn't for me. For me, this seems to tell me that java is always missing something and requires you to download if from somewhere. It takes a lot of time search for what you need and download the jar file, put it in the class path, and you have to read all kind of document to understand how all those classes in this new jar file works. And three months late, if you happen to run into those codes again, you probably won't remember what those classes that you are using in you codes work.
3) One of the most essential things on creating a business application is the ability to access the database. Search the web and see how many people ask a question about what is the best way to do this. You probably has already heard of hibernate. Have you download the document on how it works? Isn't it fun to create all those configuration file?
Steve,
I'm not saying that java is bad. But if you are trying to create a business application, (IMHO) java is not even comes close to what RPG can offer.
________________________________
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Steve Richter
Sent: Wed 6/18/2008 2:25 PM
To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: Is RPG 'DEAD"
On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 2:19 PM, Lim Hock-Chai
Lim,
a feature by feature discussion is interesting to me, but the bottom
line from my POV is that C# and Java have class libraries and RPG does
not. The reason is because those two languages have the features
needed to write and use a robust set of reuseable classes. RPG is a
good language. Applications written in RPG dont sink under their own
weight like they do in COBOL.
On the other hand, a case can be made that delegates, virtual methods
and now monads make apps written in C# too complicated to read.
http://blogs.msdn.com/wesdyer/archive/2008/01/11/the-marvels-of-monads.aspx
-Steve
midrange.com
