Re: Advice about moving to a Web-environment

Great, I think you?re moving in the right direction. Everything seems 
daunting at first because there is so much to learn; Java, JSP, JSTL, 
Javascript, HTML, CSS, the IDE and this is just the beginning. The key 
thing to remember is you don?t have to be an expert; you can build an 
application with just a little understanding of Java, JSP and HTML. I 
think you should know the IDE (WDSc/RAD) fairly well though as it really 
makes your development time more productive. 

You may also choose to start by using the Java Server Faces (JSF) approach 
in a tooled IDE like WDSc/RAD (
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246671.html?Open or 
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246361.html?Open or 
http://www.javashelf.com/book/1931182213.html). WDSc/RAD and JSF can make 
application development a drag and drop operation (up to a point).

Is your company is willing to spend some time and money to allow your 
developers to train themselves at work or are they ?doing this on their 
own?? Try to convince your management to give your developers a couple 
hours a day to learn at work. 

Here?s basically the approach I took (these can be done in parallel):
Learn some Java by taking a course (college, on-line, CBT, book) it 
doesn?t matter. I like the Head?s First series from O?Reilly 
(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfjava2/) Also check out "Beginning Java 
Objects" (http://www.apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=406) it not only 
teaches Java but object oriented analysis techniques.

Learn the IDE. I assume the IDE you?ll be using is WDSc 5.1.2 or RAD 6.0, 
get familiar with the IDE by creating some simple Java programs you can 
deploy to your iSeries. If you master the IDE, it?s amazing what it will 
do for you to simplify development. (http://www.mc-store.com/5226.html and 
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246449.html?Open)
 
Learn some basic HTML, you don?t have to know much. Understand basic 
syntax, dropdowns, forms and tables. Again I like the Head?s First series 
(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfhtmlcss/)
 
Learn about JSP?s. This is quite a topic in itself but for your first 
couple of applications, if you keep the scope small, again, you don?t have 
to know a lot. Learn about the lifecycle, request/response object, 
iterators and scope. 

Start with a small application, say a simple inquiry. Get it working in 
the IDE first and then deploy it to WAS or Tomcat. As you get a couple of 
applications under your belt start increasing the scope to perform 
database adds/updates/deletes (it?s just SQL) and adding more logic to the 
application. You mentioned you have modularized your programs so you 
should be able to re-use some of your business logic. Use SQL and stored 
procedures to access that business logic. Look at examples in the IBM 
redbooks  (http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246500.html?Open). 

After one or two web applications under your belt you?ll want to start 
learning Javascript. Then start ramping up the knowledge base by learning 
JSTL, CSS and maybe JSF and XML if there's a need. 

I think you mentioned you have the book ?Java and the AS/400?.  
http://www.systeminetwork.com/str/books/Uniquebook2.cfm?NextBook=215
Chapter 12 has the complete application code for a web app with JSP?s and 
servlets.
 
Lot?s of code and resources can be found on the web.
Check out 
http://search400.techtarget.com/topics/0,295493,sid3_tax299104,00.html and 
http://www.systeminetwork.com/ for an iSeries emphasis. 

You'll want to learn object oriented analysis and design methods and 
you'll also want to learn about design patterns.
Just knowing Java is not good enough, you need to be able to analyze 
problems using an OOA approach. 
Again, I like the Head's First series as it covers both topics (OOA&D and 
design patterns) but there's scores of other resources also.

Lot?s of learning ahead!
Good luck.
Ron




Ewout wrote:
<SNIP>

Therefore, I would like to 
know how other shops have made the step to modernization.

<SNIP>


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