Re: Web Services Solutions

I don't get worked up about anything, but I find your passion for this 
goofy
"cross-platform .NET" silliness to be very amusing.  It's as bizarre an
architecture as I can imagine (how many competing components are YOU going
to rely on in your system?).

Is it as bizarre or silly as Java to Data Queue to RPG to Data Queue to 
Java as a suggested architecture ? :-)

Maybe, but I've never been accused of being normal anyway. 

This is where we really differ.  Except for the world of thick clients, 
J2EE
applications with RPG back ends are faster, more powerful, and more 
feature
rich than SQL-based .NET applications.

Yes we do. Good generality Joe. 

I would be happy to write a whitepaper with you doing performance 
comparison of multiple environments. 

Let's agree on a scenario that's close and do a comparison.

Loser buys at Portillo's or better yet - Weber Grill :-) 

You will be teaching the former, which is why I like it!  You may not know
this, but I lobbied very hard FOR your .NET lab, you big lummox.

Thanks, Blush :-)

Don't get me wrong, MS is great for thick client stuff.  Of course, thick
client is pretty ancient technology.  I'm not sure how much thick-client
work is actually being done any more, but the vast majority of my clients
are looking for browser based applications, and that's purely the domain 
of
J2EE.

Rich client is probably the wave of the future, and I don't think 
anybody's
got any sort of stranglehold on that particular niche yet.

I suppose thick client technology is ancient, depending on if you're using 
apps written in Windows 3.1.

In .Net you can probably do a lot more sophisticated GUI stuff than with 
AWT or RCP. 

I don't think RCP technology is really the wave of the future.  Time will 
tell if you're right on that one. 

I do agree that J2EE is better for server based stuff when cross platform 
is involved. 

Yeah, okay.  But then again, that means anybody who implements your stuff
needs to be fluent in all those technologies as well, and also must rely 
on
all the third-party tools you've downloaded off the Internet.  There is a
certain joy in the KISS principle: RPG with a thin browser front end sure
keeps it simple, and all the software is supported by IBM.

Sure Joe :-)

I'm glad you're passionate about what you know.  However you should really 
broaden your horizons a bit. 

VB is a joke for production applications.  C# is supposedly a good 
language
for thick client development, but I don't see it.  RPG and whatever you
choose for a thin browser-based UI are the right tools for the vast 
majority
of iSeries-based applications.  WDSC is the environment that allows you to
use those tools to the best ability.

Again, you can't even debug RPG in Visual Studio.

Sure Joe :-)

Hmmmm... Can't debug in Visual Studio.  That's been in there since VB3 
days back in the early 90's :-)

Hey, when was Java hatched ? :-)

BTW: Has your WDSC environment started up yet ? I just finished my entire 
project :-)

My comments are only to use the right tool for the right job, and BASIC
ain't the right tool for ERP applications.  And I'm honestly not sure what
job C# is right for, but it's not writing MRP generations.

Did you have a bad Basic experience at some point in your life ?

Counseling could cure your fear of VB.

Look at the real world.  There are companies everywhere using VB to write 
production applications. 

That doesn't mean I always agree with it, but VB does have a prominent 
position in several companies including several of your own customers.

Your opinions won't change any of that.

THAT'S what you can't do in your alchemist's brew of technologies.  By the
time you get stuff running on WebSphere, you're no longer really using
Visual Studio anymore.  And THAT'S the bag on the horse's butt...

I have thought about brewing beer at home.

However when it comes to technology we only use technology that works and 
works well. 

Speaking of a bag on a horse's butt... "Java to Data Queue to RPG to Data 
Queue to Java" :-)

It is OK to touch the database with a business object or haven't you heard 
that the iSeries has a database driver for Java ?

Regards,
Richard Schoen
RJS Software Systems Inc. 
"Providing Your....iNFORMATION NOW!"
Email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web Site: http://www.rjssoftware.com
Tel: (952) 898-3038
Fax: (952) 898-1781
Toll Free: (888) RJSSOFT