RE: IBM Bets PHP Is Open Source's Next Big Thing

> From: Bob Cozzi

> And when I say "tools" I don't mean the biggest resource hog on the
> market.  I mean the small and fast tools that get the job done for
you.

Bob's right, WDSC requires a fast processor and a lot of memory.  Yet, I
find it to be a great tool that gets the job done for me.  I guess it's
because the argument about PC size isn't much of an argument anymore.  I
use WDSC every day with a 1.6GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.  If you
already have a monitor, you can get a 3GHz machine with 1GB of RAM from
Dell for under $600.

If you can't afford $600, you can't afford any other alternative, except
CGIDEV2.  And remember, WDSC is free.  No other software needed, for
creating web pages or testing or anything.


> For this reason, I'm sticking with the CGI approach for now--using RPG
> xTools CGILIB (which is just a free add-on and similar to CGIDEV2).

And if this were the 1980s, where IT jobs paid six figures and RPG was
the only language you needed, I'd be attracted to RPG-CGI myself.
Personally, though, I find that multi-language programming is the ticket
for career advancement in today's IT shop.  In the iSeries world, Java
is the language to learn and the easiest way to get there is through web
programming.  That's just one of the reasons I prefer servlets and JSPs.
Here are several:

1. You can offload the work.  With servlets and JSPs, you can actually
move your web application server to a cheap *nix or Windows machine,
offloading your iSeries completely and removing the CPU cycles required
by the CGI processing.

2. If you do offload, your host is more secure.  Offloading allows you
to move the iSeries completely out of the DMZ.  This way, there is NO
direct Internet access to the machine, which removes any threat of DoS
attacks.

3. The IDE for WDSC understands JavaServer Pages.  In fact, you can even
put breakpoints in the JSP itself to see what's going on.  Not only
that, but JSP is a standard syntax that most newbies understand.  With
RPG-CGI, you'll either be formatting the data yourself or using a
template language that is unique to the RPG tool library.  Neither one
is conducive to hiring an HTML expert to maintain your web look and
feel.  With WDSC, they can maintain the pages right in the tool, but
since its JSP they can also use any of the many JSP tools on the market.

4. You'll need to learn a little Java.  Not a lot!  A little.  You'll
need to learn enough to get data from a data queue, send it to the
screen, and then get data from the screen and send it to a data queue.
And once you learn this, you're on your way to learning more Java.  It's
a productive gateway that you can use to advance your career.

5. You can test on your workstation.  No, you can't test the RPG side of
things of course <grin>.  But you can write little classes that emulate
the RPG side of things, and then you can test your entire UI without
even having to be connected to the iSeries.  Try THAT with CGI!

Joe