My two cents on the discussion. I also contend that RPGOA is not useful
for real web UI, so that Web UI work will go to the dot Net staff.
Here, I seem to be most in agreement with Joe Pluta, especially
. . . RPG programmers would love to learn new technology, if it really
provided them some benefit.
And as for a direction with pay-off, I think an enhancement in EGL for
RPG-code-generation would evoke interest in real modernization. But
sadly, IBM would not see that as a worth-while investment. Why would I
suggest such an outlandish tooling product?
from: Joe Pluta
The real problem is that IBM isn't promoting RPG.
from: Adam Stein
I found it easier to learn from an existing program, then I could
figure out what is going on.
Consider EGL with it's COBOL code-generation. Although IBM does not
need another code-writer tool in EGL, think of how we as a community
would feel to see IBM hatch a beta RPG builder created by a group of
interns? They could throw that to us as a bone, for us to pick at, even
just to get the juices flowing again for the little guy in the small
shop. (For one thing, in an RPG-only shop such as mine, that is only
way EGL would ever be evaluated or embraced.)
As it is, I believe that EGL is the tool to promote. And it is the only
tool/language/product in our sphere where a certification is given, with
a defined "recognizable" goal and the accompanying $$$ at the end of the
learning cycle.
I realize that such an attempt by IBM would likely become a dead-end
project, but it would show "an attitude of investment" in our beloved
box that might energize the masses - young and old - which some here
blame for being lackadaisical in their own education.
Note that the way I learned M$ VBA Visual Basic for Applications in
Excel was by recording macros, and then reviewing and modifying them.
Perhaps the same education route may be the stepping stones for other
RPG-ers to modernize their style to free-form, and also for them to
understand, if not code the AJAX pieces of CCS, JavaScript, and other
dogwork of Web 2.0 coding.
This may be too simplistic of an analogy, but what do we have to lose
with a tool - any tool - that is forward-looking? I would rather play
with that than the RDp which really is an Eclipse-Add-on, and the
too-late-for-prime-time player that is RPGOA.
midrange.com
