From: Steven Spencer
why would you develop a new app in RPG instead of a 4GL?
If you feel most comfortable coding in RPG II then your perception of RPG may be WAY different than mine. I have access to a library of RPG II code and OCL procedures but if I browse it, I have a hard time understanding it. In contrast, I've read some of Henrik's RPG (free form), which is elegantly expressed, and easy for me to understand.
Notwithstanding the differences between versions, I think that you could pick up ILE RPG more easily than most other languages. For new apps, I almost always suggest ones that respond to requests from Web browsers. Browsers offer UI opportunities that would be impossible in a 5250 environment, and CAN BE more streamlined and productive for end users, if you know what you're doing. Browsers DO interface more easily with desktop applications. Browser user interfaces can be adapted to handheld devices, which is where most new development is headed, whether we're ready or not.
Learning HTML, JavaScript, Style Sheets, and the browser DOM was more difficult for me than learning RPG, but was quite attainable. It opened a lot of doors. It was worth the effort. I'm not great at it. I use Dreamweaver which is a powerful and productive IDE. I'd probably be lost without it. But I can develop user interfaces that are comparable to Google apps.
Many reasons for using RPG. Web interfaces benefit from record-level access as much as 5250 interfaces. Performance is exceptional. RPG is able to respond to browser events so quickly that applications often feel like they're running on a local device rather than a network server. Consequently, you can create a more pleasing end-user experience.
RPG Applications gain the advantage of IBM's exceptional workload management. It's normal to see 4,000+ active web related jobs running at one of our customer's sites, in harmony with an overall workload of 10,000+ active jobs. 4-core IBM i server, 32 meg RAM, 50% CPU utilization, 3,000+ users, sub-second response.
I frequently toggle between a 5250 window and a browser window, each running different applications. Mixed workload environments are common.
Your leanings toward a 4GL suggests that you value programmer productivity. It took us a while to build an RPG framework so that we are perhaps equally productive, and I acknowledge that you may be more productive with a 4GL initially. On the other hand, I wouldn't trade my low-level understanding of browser interfaces, for a high-level tool because we occasionally run into requirements that don't fit into a box, and we need to be able to adapt.
We often begin development by firing up Dreamweaver and designing a user interface with markers where IBM i data will be inserted during run-time. We often pull in HTML templates from existing applications. I'm now more comfortable with Dreamweaver than SDA.
I still prefer PDM for working with RPG code. We often pull in RPG templates from existing applications, so our methodologies are not that much different than traditional RPG development.
-Nathan
midrange.com
