RE: Are we not developers? -- RPG400-L

I'll add a different take here... A developer has to understand the environment in which they work.

The vast majority of IBM i developers have a MUCH better grasp of the business than the developers likely represented on StackOverflow. I've seen that over many years and see it constantly today.

Heck, I had a developer supporting Infinium payroll who took over as Payroll Manager (for 4000 employees) for several months due to illness/outages of the business people. You won't find that capability in Javascript developers.

Roger Harman
COMMON Certified Application Developer – ILE RPG on IBM i on Power

-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peter Dow
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2020 5:20 PM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Are we not developers?

Hi Vlad,

I have seen RPG on other platforms, but that was probably RPG II, and
probably not used for businesses.

However, the "IBM proprietary platform" runs more than just RPG. Most
modern languages I've heard of run on it.

There are still many programs written in RPG, COBOL, etc. on the IBM i
that are still running and probably will be for years. Part of the
attraction is the work management capabilities of the OS which I don't
see on other machines. And I've worked on a bunch of different hardware
besides IBM's -- Data General, NCR, Prime, MicroData, Univac, as well as
PCs running Windows and Linux.

But no matter, if you stick with what you're doing you will probably be
in our position one day. Progress!

--
*Peter Dow* /
Dow Software Services, Inc.
909 793-9050
petercdow@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:petercdow@xxxxxxxxx>
pdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:pdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

/
On 5/29/2020 3:20 PM, Vlad Korge wrote:

I don't personally care about any sorts of ranks, listings etc. RPG is
indeed a programming language.
But its use is limited to one IBM proprietary platform which is finding its
way to a peaceful retirement now. Most of the developers are in retirement
age and just don't want to accept the reality that their time as "IT
pioneers" has gone. I understand that it is hard. But it is true. So, don't
blame youngers for not wishing playing with grandpas toys.

Cheers,
Vlad.

-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob
Cagle
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2020 3:34 AM
To: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Are we not developers?

I just read this summary of the 2020 Slack Overflow annual survey:

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/stack-overflow-developer-survey-2020-progr
amming-language-framework-salary-data/

There are no references to RPG or Cobol.

There are a couple of references to DB2: it ranked second to last in least
used database. And if you look at the full survey, DB2 ranks #1 as the most
dreaded database.

I know we are a small community, but I'm surprised that neither RPG nor
Cobol were referenced at all. Could be that hardly any of us hang out on
Slack Overflow?

So does the rest of the world not consider us "real" developers because we
aren't using what they consider "real" languages?

I remember taking a class on C++ back in the mid-90s with a co-worker of
mine. The first day the instructor let us know that C++ was a "real"
language, and nothing like those "sissy" languages like Basic or RPG. My
co-worker immediately raised his hand and let him know that we were both RPG
programmers. The instructor told us that we would have a hard time in his
class then. We both passed with perfect scores; proved him wrong.

Just curious - anyone else ever experienced this type of bias?

Bob Cagle
IT Manager
Lynk

--
This is the RPG programming on IBM i (RPG400-L) mailing list To post a
message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or
change list options,
visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at
https://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
questions.

Help support midrange.com by shopping at amazon.com with our affiliate link:
https://amazon.midrange.com