Re: Apache and .Net

Much of the time, when IBM calls something a "strategic direction", whatever it is is going into the toilet soon. And considering the noise made for the SmallTalk environment several years ago - whatever happened to THAT strategic direction for development on the AS/400?

Not to be over-pessimistic, of course, but I'm still on vacation officially!!

Vern

-------------- Original message --------------
From: Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

I signed up for a couple of online IBM classes on EGL (They haven't
started yet). The instructor put out a few questions so he could see
where the students were, knowledge-wise, on a few subjects. One of the
questions asked and the resulting exchange:


[Jon] Do you have any questions for us - on the class or EGL/RBD in general?

[Jeff] EGL is IBM proprietary, correct?
[Jon] Yes and No. For now yes. But we're opening up the language, and
the OMG (who traffics in such things) is looking at a submission we have
to make EGL open-source

[Jeff] What if IBM abandons it someday?
[Jon] EGL is a strategic product for IBM. It's based on 25 years of
antecedent products (CSP --> VAGEN --> EGL). At no time has IBM
abandoned its customers. When new products in the same vein have been
offered? We have provided electronic code migration. And if you used
any other language - you'd be up the same well-known creek. Example -
if you used Java for web? You'd have started off using Servlets. Then?
(oops) JSPs - throw out the servlets. Then (oops) STRUTS framework
(throw out the JSPs) - then (oops) JSF ... (ditto) ... now it's
Spring/Hibernate (throw out all of the above). This is in a 5 year
span. If you'd been using EGL you would have thrown out Zero.

[Jeff] Does EGL generate HTML/Cobol/Java such that the output could
still be used if EGL goes away?
[Jon] Theoretically yes. For all intents and purposes not really.


Interesting, huh? Take it for what it's worth.

--
Jeff Crosby
UniPro Foodservice/Dilgard
260-422-7531
Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my company. Unless I
say so.

No, you miss the point. EGL is based on CSP - a technology first

introduced in 1981, before Windows was a gleam in Steve Jobs' eye. <<

Can you say L.E.G.A.C.Y :-)