Re: RPG - I'm not dead yet!

[Paul Holm <pholm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO

You really can't easily compare procedure versus object oriented because 
OO is a vast open canvas where you can design objects/classes in an 
unlimited manner.  Objects can interactive powerfully  in a framework. 
 Procedural is more consistent where most programs follow a similar set 
of logic and flow to do their work.

Object Orientation is a set of good programming design practices and 
frameworks with the objective of making software developing a)  Faster 
b) More flexible  c) Higher quality

The ACTUAL benefits you achieve depend solely on how good or bad you 
designed your software.  I can create a OO system that is inefficient 
and difficult to change while another OO developed system was developed 
quickly and is easy to change.  It all depends on your OO design.

OS400 is object based providing *some* of the benefits such as 
encapsulation of objects, etc.  More object orientation provides further 
benefits but the benefits of an OO system is a moving scale from 1 to 
100 not a binary, yes or no.

I do know that OO systems can:
1.  Handle business logic very effectively
2.  Can handle requirement changes extremely well
3.  Provide significant productivity and flexibility advantages over a 
procedural approach in many situations.

It really depends on the actual characteristics of your design. 
Comparisons can be done by looking at specific implementation details 
and asking how quickly can it be built, how easy can it be changed, and 
how high is the quality.

-Paul Holm