Re: RPG - Software Architecture / Best practices

On 1/25/2013 9:46 AM, Charles MARTIN wrote:

I am a french software architect, in dotnet mainly.
I am not used to program in RPG, but I am working in it.

I have been asked to help RPG programmers to work in a different way, using best practices, design patterns, etc.
I am looking for advices, which could help me to get in the right direction.

-snip-

What I would like to achieve is :

· Use a layered architecture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture)

o Presentation Layer
o Business Layer
o Data Layer

· Do TDD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development)
o And later, BDD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_driven_development)


I am doing a Proof of Concept with my colleagues, using the "Service programs" to do the layering.
That would be a good start.
I could not find something similar on the net.
Does that seems a good idea to you, the RPG experts ?
How would you do that ?

Sounds like a magnificent idea! To help your colleagues adapt, add the
service program to a binding directory, and put the binding directory in
your standard H-specification. Then your colleagues can compile easily
with PDM option 14 rather than a two step process of creating a module,
then a program. What has helped me is to tell my colleagues that
sub-procedures are nothing more than user-written BIFs (built-in functions).

There is an open source RPGUnit service program available for TDD.
http://rpgunit.sourceforge.net/ It's not integrated into Eclipse, but
it's a start. A larger issue is how to create and maintain a
representative database - one that will exercise the edge cases properly.

Bonne chance!
--buck