RE: Is RPG dying

-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

On Behalf Of John McKay

Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 2:49 PM
To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i
Subject: Re: Is RPG dying

While I regard RPG as a very efficient and cost-effective language (short

learning curve, low development hours, good development visibility), I see
a number of factors >which restrict its popularity.

First, unlike other languages, it is restricted to one platform. (I

remember someone had a Windows PC version out in the 80's but it never
caught on).

Technically, in IMHO, all languages are platform-specific. Every platform
provider has its "enhancements" to a language. Even Java requires its own
virtual machine (aka operating system) run on top of the hosting operating
system.

Secondly, it is weak when developing user-interfaces, GUI's. RPG is

essentially a server language. Given that nowadays most AS400 screens are
on Windows or UNIX >operating systems, I think IBM missed a point by not
making it easier to access the full memory capability of Windows and Unix
for user interfaces embedded in the

RPG code. For example, instead of WORKSTN on the F specs, WNDWGUI or

UNIXGUI. Mind you, if some smart person could write a routine and link it
as a SPECIAL

device ... I concede that you can use HTML on the green screen, but I

have never seen it used effectively

Now this one I have to smile at and agree up to a point. I asked John
Sears once when IBM was going to develop a GUI for the AS/400. As memory
serves he said they tried it with X-Windows but had run into memory
handling difficulties with the AS/400's single level storage model. This
was before Windows was even released. DOS was the rage.

So, IBM left the user interface development decision up to the customer
and third parties. They chose to continue providing a 5250 interface via a
server again leaving it up to other interested parties to develop some
other interface server.

Yet, technically, Client Access is a GUI interface. It's just that within
the body of the window you are constrained by the TN5250 data stream. The
client (CA) converses with the telnet server. The server doesn't handle
any of the GUI stuff it is all done by Client Access.

Some companies provided "Modernization" strategies and some have been
successful. Not all these companies developed a product where you develop
a GUI and just connect it to any operating system. Websphere seems to be
an attempt by IBM to do just this. At least Eclipse in its various
incarnations has a consistent interface.

Open Access RPG does open (no pun intended) the door for in-house or third
parties to develop alternatives to TN5250. Some are taking up the
challenge.

OAR provides so many possibilities it makes my head swim. Forget about
GUI for an instant and imagine what could be done to make seemingly
separate OSs appear to be a single homogeneous one.

Thirdly, as another contributor has already stated, RPG is a procedural

language, as opposed to OO. OO and UML are the current and future trends
in software >development.

It all becomes procedural at some level. That an object accesses a
database somehow doesn't mean the database access is OO. SQL is
procedural. You can argue that JDBC is OO but it still gets down to SQL
statements being run one after another. At least on the i it does.

Adapting OO design techniques for RPG is quite helpful. Reuse really pops
out at you.

RPG is not dying but it is becoming a niche language. One thing we

learnt from Y2K work was the amount of legacy code that exists in the
background. This will exist >and work well into the future., but also will
be changed project by project slowly over the years to come.

Conquest by attrition or, evolution over revolution. I agree.


Gary Monnier


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