Re: George Farr declaresfeaturespecificpricingonhorizonfor WDSC

Browser communication via CGIDEV2 is almost as old as Visual Age for RPG's

thick client ability.

CGIDEV2 is far from what other development environments have for a framework
to build web apps on.  This is exactly my point.  Most of the RPG community
don't even know what they are missing or what IBM could do if they chose to
really take RPG to the next level.  For instance, they could build a web
framework so integrated that programmers wouldn't even have to learn that
much about HTML or Javascript but simply learn to use new RPG keywords and
such.  I would envision that most of the programming behind the scenes would
remain the same (i.e. subfile processing, input validation, etc).  I have
lived through JSF and there are things that I absolutely LOVE about the
framework (e.g. event driven, .  But at the end of the day, the Java
language and all of the other components someone adds to make things easier
(like db access) ends up taking hours of support and debugging when things
go wrong because they aren't tightly integrated into the OS and language
(like RPG, DB2 and i5OS).

Aaron Bartell


-----Original Message-----
From: wdsci-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wdsci-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Buck
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 1:48 PM
To: wdsci-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [WDSCI-L] George Farr
declaresfeaturespecificpricingonhorizonfor WDSC

Hi Aaron,

Imagine having a RPG native way to
create browser and thick client apps from
the iSeries!  

Browser communication via CGIDEV2 is almost as old as Visual Age for RPG's
thick client ability.  Which is more popular, the one officially developed
as part of an IBM policy or the one developed as a technology demonstrator?
Is there a lesson in that?

This isn't a rant against IBM making money; if they don't earn a profit,
that's bad for us.  It's a rant about the IBM policy dudes not listening to
the RPG developer (the Systemn i bread and butter) and then charging us for
being in the wrong market!

The simple fact is that WDSC is way ahead of the curve for the vast majority
of System i companies.  That stinks for several reasons.  I'll name just
one.  IBM spent umpty squat millions to develop a tool that includes the
ability to:
     * Build dynamic Web user interfaces with minimal coding using
standards-based JavaServer Faces (JSF) components
     * Visually design and develop rich Web user interfaces using
drag-and-drop components in a Visual Page Designer
     * Build data-driven Web pages with minimal coding and point-and-click
database connectivity
     * Build rich Web user interfaces with performance and maintenance
characteristics of thin clients using JSF extensions
(http://www-306.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&;
appname=Demonstration&htmlfid=897/ENUS207-030)

It is an undisputed fact that the vast majority of developers on System i do
_not_ do any of these things.  WDSCi is a solution looking for a problem.
The anonymous IBM policy dude is to be commended for getting ahead of the
curve (although he missed the open source thing [1]) and creating WDSC in
advance of the desire for it.

He also deserves to be whacked in the back of his head for expecting RPG
programmers who don't use it to pay _extra_ for stuff we can't use.
   --buck

[1] No Linux/OpenBSD support.  No source for the System i parsers, not even
documentation for the extension points they consume or expose.
--
This is the Websphere Development Studio Client for iSeries  (WDSCI-L)
mailing list To post a message email: WDSCI-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe,
unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/wdsci-l
or email: WDSCI-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at
http://archive.midrange.com/wdsci-l.