RE: Open Access for RPG

I haven't finished this thread, but I'm going to have to jump in, anyway.

As Mike pointed out, most people are conservative. This applies to politics, personal habits, work regimen, etc. However, I don't think that most programmers are lazy. Sure, they'll take a proven technique and keep using it - until they discover or are shown a better approach. Specifically, I wonder how many RPG programmers even know that things like Midrange and COMMON even exist? I know that I didn't know about Midrange until Jon pointed it out to me.

As for waiting for retirement, I'll admit that I am of the age (62) when I can retire (if I only had enough cash!). I am in an enviable (by most standards) position of being able to change; I'm the lone IBM i programmer in our company, and I set my own standards. Others of you have to contend with bureaucracy (i.e., management) of various sorts that may hinder innovation/change. I have to maintain an old (S/34/36) set of programs that use the same worn, tired techniques (even by /34/36 standards), which, as I found out, was a direct result of the software owner being unable or unwilling to change.

Pointers confuse me, not frighten. Heck I was confused when I took C back in the early 80's (even though I made a B in the course). I had to sit through Jon's sessions on prototypes at least twice before they started to make sense. I've done very little programming for stream files (non-QSYS IFS) simply because the need rarely raises its head. But when it does I pull out Scott's handouts and go for it - but how many programmers out there even know about Scott, Jon, Henrik, et al? If not, is it because they are lazy? I submit that that is not the case, but it is not something that can be "proven" one way or another if for no other reason than "lazy" is not a quantifiable term for which one can perform analysis.

In general, programmers are no different from, say, a construction worker who uses the tools and techniques that he company gives him. On the other hand, while that construction worker may suggest a different (not to use a judgmental term such as "better") approach, s/he is usually constrained to follow directions. Wanting to retain a job may have a restraining influence, but that is much more measureable than saying that laziness is a characteristic.

Jerry C. Adams
IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing. - Dizzy Dean