Re: Looking for Agile Experience

In general, Agile development (assuming you mean the methodology and not a particular product) works quite well with RPGIV, whether a lot of LE features are used or not. 

This is because RPG is so very very terse compared to most other languages, and yet still, at the core, a procedural language. 

It --> does <--- require significant available processor power, and the stakholders have to buy into it. But turning a  minor change around on a screen - green screen, GUI, or Web, in a couple of minutes makes a lot of people very happy. You have to have small programs that compile quickly and very good test data that you can also reload very quickly. 

Downsides are the that programmers usually need to be above average for this method to really work best. Turnarounds of a day or two on relatively minor things are not really going to work. Same with a hard nosed certainly about what can and what can NOT change too. The customer might decide he wants to change how he does his account number or something. Have to accept that and make it happen quickly.

And, like every other methodology, get the last 10% to work and work right is still the toughest part. 

Works better for small or mid-range projects I think, say up to 300 or 400 programs in an application. With RPG you can push that because some programs are going to fit on a page or two. 

-Paul 


On Oct 22, 2013, at 03:38 PM, Jon Paris <jon.paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Cross-posted to Midrange-L and RPG400-L

Anyone got any experience in applying Agile techniques in an ILE + RPG environment?

Jon Paris

www.partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com