WDSC 4.0 bundling

I agree with Mark and Buck in their comments about bundling.  Although I
have been ultimately impressed with the integration and new tools being
developed, I am still baffled why they would not give us the choice of only
installing the components we want.  I think they did that with the WDT.  I
understand RAM and disk space is cheap, this is a work-in-process, and
upgrades are being made available after certain time periods.  It is just
that with any huge software you expect to have the choice of installing the
components you want, even test software.  I don't know of any significant
fixes to CODE/400 to justify upgrading PC's except maybe better help
search.  I still think making help available online like the information
center would cut down on the RAM but I am not the designer.  Even with
cheap disk space, I know I would not have upgraded my PC if I had to pay
for it myself.  I guess I would be one of those pennypinchers.  :)  I do
have a new and fast PC now though and I am sure I am not using any of the
extra RAM and disk space because I don't use WSSDa (except for help search)
and I sure don't see any major differences in CODE/400.  I thought the LPEX
editor was only for lpx programs.  I didn't bother with it right away
because it didn't have syntax checking.  Now that I know the LPEX editor
might be the next CODE/400, I will try to do some of my coding with the
LPEX editor in WSSDa since I have WDSC.  I am assuming that when the LPEX
editor is all tested out, they will point all the links from PDM and
wherever else to the LPEX editor.  Is this the pinnacle of hardware
upgrades or can we expect more in the future due to a potential increasing
demand on RAM and disk space?

Thanks,
Craig Strong

** Mark wrote:
Buck,

>
> Hi Mark!
> I agree with everything in your note but in the interest of brevity
snipped
> much of it out.
>
> The big problem is the bundling.  As positioned, it is to be all things
to
> all developers.
>
> Green screen people think of WDSc as the follow on to Code.  Java people
> think of it as the follow on to VAJ.  It is at the same time both, and
> neither, being a work in progress.  Until it is complete, no faction
(web,
> 5250, Java only) will be satisfied with a collection of parts being sold
as
> an integrated development environment.
> --buck

I guess I just tend to look at it more optimistically.  VAJ was originally
a tool for developing "fat-client" Java applications, and they later tried
to make it into a tool for developing Java-server applications.  For those
of us that only want to do the latter, WDSc is already much better than
the old combination of VAJ and WebSphere Studio.

As for Code/400, I think it will be a part of the package for quite some
time simply because there is a lot of code there to rewrite.

I do agree, and have said for some time, that IBM should be more "upfront"
about who this package is aimed at.  As I stated previously, in my opinion
it mainly exists today for those of us that are doing web development with
the iSeries.  While there will be some people doing traditional 5250
development that like it, most will be unhappy until they add more
features and polish.

Mark