Ooooh - this could an interesting discussion ...!
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Except that neither Netbeans nor Visual Studio Code can handle IBM i
programs!
I was sort of interested in the 'way ahead of RDi' part.
Potential RFE material rather than editor wars :-)
But this is potentially changing:
<
https://github.com/NielsLiisberg/RPG-for-VSCode>
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The RDi team do a fantastic job. Great product and support. Not perfect, but
subject to continual improvement; with our help, it can only get better.
(iSphere - we thank you!)
However, the Big Problems are, (IMHumbleO):
- The relatively small audience for RDi. (I imagine it is difficult for
Rational
to justify major investment in a niche product.)
- The cost of licences. (Difficult for some organisations and especially
individuals to
justify the outlay.)
This story has been heard many times before. I'll say it again
because my very recent experience with an IBM i client continues to
underline the issue of costs. Not being an IBM i customer myself, I cannot
say what level of discounts might be available, or what "trade-in" deals are
on offer. What I _do_ know is, the individual cost of 855UKP (Authorised
User with Perpetual Licence for 12-months) is just too much to swallow for
individuals and smaller teams. I am reliably informed that this price is not
much different, even with discounts and trade-ins of ADTS.
I know scores of IBM i developers who would _love_ to have RDi on their
workstations. Sadly, the costs kill the argument. This in turn is doing the
IBM i platform no good at all.
I've recently been playing around with the DBeaver SQL client tool. It is SO
good
and a dream to use with DB2 for i. It's based on Eclipse - and free. Then
there's the iSphere tooling. So maybe one solution is in our own hands, as
hinted at by the above Github link. Or maybe we should be supporting the
MiWorkplace project; licence costs appear to be 25.50EUR. Very attractive.
(Not as sophisticated as RDi - but an affordable option.)
I have no answers, I just know there are many RPG IV developers out there
who cannot get their hands on RDi because of the cost.
Brian.
midrange.com
