Re: Coding in Column 1

So you use Mercurial, but not RDi? Or perhaps you didn't realize that RDi gives you a very nice side by side comparison. Select both members in RSE, or the object table, or even iProject, right click, and select compare with ... each other. If you get it though iProjects, you can even copy entire changes from one side to the other with the click of a button. Too bad that doesn't work for the RSE version, but I have a request in for that. You can vote on it if you like.

Mark Murphy
STAR BASE Consulting, Inc.
mmurphy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----John Yeung <gallium.arsenide@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: -----
To: "RPG programming on the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)" <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: John Yeung <gallium.arsenide@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: 09/18/2015 04:24PM
Subject: Re: Coding in Column 1

On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 3:31 PM, Vernon Hamberg
<vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Other languages take advantage of diffs between
iterations, so no need for marking in code itself.

Interesting way to phrase this, Vern. I understand what you're saying.
But I would express it as:

(1) Other languages don't have "reserved columns", and so they never
grew this type of comment system. As you note, some folks find ways to
keep their change history in CL without column-based comments; well,
some people do the same in other languages also.

(2) The big thing is, in 2015, if you're programming on any mainstream
platform, you're using some kind of version control. The big dog today
is surely Git, but there are several other viable options. And the way
version control works is as you say, taking advantage of diffs between
iterations. But this is not so much a function of the language as it
is of the version control software. You can use Git for column-based
RPG III code if you wish, and maybe some folks out there do. I know I
do. (Well, I use Mercurial, and it's RPG IV, but the code isn't all
free-form.)

I am completely sold on the modern version-control way of handling
change history. Leave that crap out of the source code. Even without
fancy tools like Git, I still think it's preferable to just keep a few
versions of the source code lying around if you need them, and lean
heavily on CMPPFM and multiple open sessions.

John Y.