Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: SQL RPG and Web API Consumption

On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 12:47 PM Kelly Cookson via RPG400-L
<rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

We are a COBOL shop. I'm not sure HTTPAPI and YAJL will work for COBOL.

This is an interesting question to me. As COBOL has an ILE compiler,
it should in principle be possible to link in ILE modules written in
other languages. But I don't know whether that interface is "exposed"
in the implementation of COBOL, whereas it clearly is in RPG and C.

We would probably do it in SQL COBOL most of the time, but we would have a basic understanding for how to it in RPG when desired.

This is definitely a good thing to have. It should be fairly
straightforward to carry over your existing SQL knowledge to RPG.

Whether you find ILE modules (like HTTPAPI and YAJL) or SQL easier is
largely subjective and depends on familiarity and expertise. For
example, Jon clearly favors ILE modules and Birgitta clearly favors
SQL. Both are truly IBM i experts and we can all learn a lot from both
of them.

If you have the time and open-mindedness to *really* explore, an
intriguing option would be the open source dynamic languages for PASE,
namely Python and JavaScript. They can be a bit mind-blowing if you
haven't been exposed to that world before. Both of those languages are
arguably much easier and more powerful for web programming than
anything within the ILE family. They have a massive head-start for web
programming in terms of both design and ecosystem (third-party
libraries, learning and reference materials, forums, etc.). The idea
of "parsing" JSON in those languages is almost nonsensical, because
JSON is essentially native syntax for them. (JSON is *literally*
native syntax for JavaScript.) Both of them can also serve as a host
language for SQL, so you can still leverage that existing knowledge.
(I find it much easier to use SQL within Python than within RPG.)

I don't want to dissuade you in any way from exploring RPG. I just
think it is good to be aware of what else is out there, especially
given that Python and JavaScript have taken over huge swaths of the
computing landscape in the "outside world". I think it was an
excellent move (some would say a necessary one) by IBM to embrace
these technologies and provide them on the i.

John Y.