Re: Required Skills (was EGL)

Walden H. Leverich wrote:

I have a big problem with that statement. It's not that EGL lets you
avoid knowing HTML, it may, it may not, I don't really care. :) My
problem is much bigger...

If you (editorial use, not you Joe) are too damn lazy to learn something
as fundamental to today's programming requirements as HTML, Javascript
and CSS then you deserve to be unemployed!
Sorry, but these things aren't new, their use in business isn't new, and
they're not difficult to learn. Drop by your local bookstore, or visit
any of many sites, and learn a little to advance your career.

Walden, that's a fine sentiment for someone who has the time to learn. Who doesn't have a backlog of three months of programs to fix, and a threat of outsourcing over their head. Whose company won't spend a nickel to train them.

I developed a simple, thin framework back in 1998 that would have allowed everyone to web enable their applications, provided they learned a little Java, a little HTML and a little JavaScript. That's all. And yet it wasn't until the last couple of years that people have started to web enable. I can't tell you how many times the pundits in our community said that Java was "too hard".

I mean, look at the questions on this list. People want to see complete business applications pre-written before they'll even take the time to try a new tool. Whether this is a sign of our times or what, I can't tell you, but fewer people seem interested in learning the underlying technologies.

So, the issue is this: how do you get to the web quickly without having to learn the skills but yet be able to use those skills when you get around to using them? A 4GL is one great choice, because it generates code.

Anyway, this is beginning to devolve into an argument about what people should be learning, and I'm not willing to spend a lot of time telling people what they need to do, while congress is busy selling them out to the lowest bidder. Instead, I want people to be as productive as possible, and if that RPG-CGI, then there are people who can teach them that, and if it's EGL, I'll be happy to point them in the right direction.

Joe