RE: RPG - I'm not dead yet!

["Schmidt, Mihael" <Mihael.Schmidt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have had the same experience and have found that most RPG programmers only know RPGIII and live inside their own little world. So be it.

-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of john e
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 5:29 PM
To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i
Subject: Re: RPG - I'm not dead yet!

Ok.....

The reason why, IMHO, RPG is a "fatal" flaw is because most RPG programmers
are "raised" with a "language" that doesn't support all kind of trivial
things, like normal dates, like "free format", local variables, long
variable names (we have indicators), only columnar format, only subroutines
and no any other way of abstraction, JUST subroutines (yes thanks to OS/400
we can call other programs as modules but again this is not a language
feature), etc etc.

This is were most RPG programmers are at.
Only 1% use ILE RPGIV (which is feature wise comparable to C from the 60's
but anyway a lot better than before).
Why is it that only 1% use "modern" RPG?

Because RPG exists since 1950 and only the last 10 years it evolved,
somewhat.
I am exagerating, but only a little bit, unfortunately.

Most RPG'ers don't have any knowledge of good software development
practices, like abstraction, etc.
Learning a (natural) language shapes your mind.
If you learn a language like RPGII, or III, and this is your only language
and only knowlegde then something like "local variables" sound strange and
not useful, only making things complicated. Try convincing somebody with
only "classic" RPG experience the advantages of local variables. It's just
completely alien.





On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 5:15 PM, Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Thanks, Jerry.  That's a pretty cogent synopsis of the situation with a
> very low geek factor.
>
> And yes, C was a godsend for me.  While I was learning RPG, I also
> learned assembly language and then C, and understanding the basic C
> syntax has served as a solid foundation for many of the other languages
> I've learned over the years, including C++, Java and JavaScript.
>
> Joe
>
>
> > I'm not nearly as well versed in these things as you and Joe, but why
> would
> > one consider RPG (and here I'm assuming ILE RPG) to be an Achilles' Heel?
> > An Achilles' Heel is a weak point (usually a fatal one).  Just because
> it's
> > tied so closely to the system (using, I think, the system's data
> management
> > routines among other things) shouldn't be cause for alarm.  As Joe and
> JHHL,
> > among others, have pointed out it always helps to be multilingual.  Makes
> me
> > wish I hadn't given up on C those many years ago.
> >
> > RPG is not a fatal flaw - in my opinion - as long as Toronto keeps
> growing
> > it.  Which they seem intent upon doing.
> >
> > Jerry C. Adams
>
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