Re: The value of ILE

On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 1:32 AM, Alan Campin <alan0307d@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

This is crazy. You left out the number one advantage of ILE. Service
Programs. Programs are slow to call but the big problem is that this have a
single point of entry, ie one function.

Dieter quickly pointed out the advantage of service programs over
standalone programs. He covered everything that you did, but thanks
for chiming in.

I mean the list is endless of things you can do with ILE that you cannot do
with OPM and the number one reason that you use procedures. Local
variables. Small pieces of code with their own variables.

The list is definitely not endless. It's actually on the small side,
from my point of view (and part of the reason for this thread is to
bring them up). The few things that ILE can do, that OPM cannot,
range from very important to not particularly important. All it takes
is one thing to make ILE worthwhile. Whether it's worthwhile *enough*
is a matter of both opinion and individual circumstance.

I understand your example of local variables. It's more precise and
meaningful to say that ILE offers you local variables AND global
variables in the same module. (Why it's important to point out that
you can simultaneously have both is that if you only need local
variables, then you can easily achieve this with OPM by separating the
function into its own program.)

John Y.