Re: Re: XML, RPG, Web Services, Joe = Holy War was -> RE: Re: Modify the IE Browser -- WEB400

Brad Stone wrote:
> Hi, Buck!
> 
> In all fairness, comparing CGI to TIFF to JPG translation
> is like comparing a 2x4 to a lesiure suit...  I do TIFF to
> PDF conversions and use C.  Could I use RPG?  Yes... Do I
> want to?  No.  Do I want to use RPG for CGI?
>  Absofreakinlootly!
> 

Hmmm, TIFF to JPEG conversion? Oh, about 3 lines of code in a language like 
Python, using the Python Imaging Library. (Import the PIL, open TIFF file, 
write in JPEG format.) TIFF to PDF? A couple of lines of code in Python 
using ReportLab functions. (I assume Perl and Java have comparable ease of 
programming for these tasks.)

CGI in RPG? That has been discussed and dissed previously in this thread (or 
its predecessor thread). As mentioned earlier, frameworks exist in a 
variety of other languages that offer orders of magnitude better programmer 
productivity. Sure, the programmers in your shop may only know RPG. But if 
your competitor down the street knows one of these other frameworks (like 
J2EE), they'll be eating your lunches. I know you'll want to argue that 
point since RPG-CGI is your bread and butter, but that is the reality these 
days, Brad.

> 
> What makes Perl nice for CGI is the built in functions used
> with the web, and also it's string manipulation abilities.
>  But, it lacks in the DB area, which in our area is kind of
> the most important thing.  That's where RPG shines.

Perl, along with other similar languages, have a good selection of database 
connectivity tools, many of which even allow a good degree of database 
independence. Tight integration between the language and the operating 
system is not necessarily a good thing.

> 
> I'd argue that a lot of the functions (that are most used,
> not some obscure function used in one shop in Albacoykee)
> are available, or are very easily written.  Why are we so
> lazy today that we can't write our own functions?  :)

Huh? Laziness is a prime quality of good programmers. Why write your own 
code when good quality code that does the job already exists? Lots of good 
tools exist available to the programmers of languages like Java and Perl 
and Python. Why write your own XML parser or image conversion functions or 
IP server or persistence framework or archive functions or whatever if 
they're easily available to you? I don't know about you, but my time is 
very important to me. I have better things to do in my life than rewrite 
code that's been done before.

> 
> And RPG's string manipulation abilities are not half bad.

And they're not great either (speaking as the implementor of much of that 
string functionality). I'd much rather be doing string manipulation in a 
truly dynamic language, like REXX or Perl or Python.

> 
> I keep seeing the same arguments against RPG crop up year
> after year.  And they are actually becoming less relevent
> as well.
> 

Don't forget that other languages are moving as well, and moving faster. I 
don't really want to discourage people from using RPG. But if a better tool 
exists, then you'd be crazy not to use it. To be blunt, for more and more 
tasks these days, there are indeed better tools.

(To be clear, RPG is still good for many tasks, such as the "Model" in an 
MVC design.)

Cheers! Hans