OK, here’s a question for you. Yeah, that’s right. You. Have you taken a look at a copy of System iNews lately? No, that’s not the question. Just hang in there with me for a few minutes. Have you taken a look at a copy of System iNews lately? It’s interesting. Every article is about developing web enabled systems using PHP or using the
So, I am wondering, what gives?   Is this what everyone is doing; advanced PHP and
Can you help me out here, pal? What types of things do you spend the bulk of your time on? (Drinking coffee and hiding from your boss don’t count.) Is it cutting edge stuff? Or the same old same old? Are you living life on the edge of the bubble, or are you stuck so deep behind the lines that you forget there are technology advances? I just need to know what the real world is doing.  You know what I mean?Â
#1 by Donavaughn on July 12, 2007 - 12:38 am
Hi David,
Good question. As you know, I’m no longer in the RPG game, but I definitely have an opinion, having just came from a 400 environment.
This said, here’s my two cents…
Makes total sense to go with web-based, multi-tier development. PHP programmers are in plentiful supply when compared to RPG programmer numbers. That reduces risk in IT (and the organizations IT supports). Additionally, the ever more web savvy user expects the aesthetics and usability of web-based applications. Seems like a natural progression.
Donavaughn
#2 by Dave on July 12, 2007 - 8:10 am
Good comment, but I wonder about one thing. When you talk about reducing the risk to IT, I tend to think that revolves more around being able to have someone new come in and pick up where someone else left off. I think that some of the new documentation features in RPG (like qualified data structures, longer data field names, etc.) do actually make it easier for programs to be self documenting.
I always have a tendency to think of web stuff as not being that way, although maybe it’s just because I am not as used to looking at HTML or PHP code and so it looks less visible to me.
Or, let me be more blunt. RPG is finally getting to the point where Cobol was 20 years ago (in terms of people really stressing self documentation). I think that is a sign of the maturity of a language. Web languages, however, seem to still be focused on doing stuff first and letting people know what has been done second. From that point of view are we developing lots of code on the web that no one will be able to follow when they inevitably move on? Comment?
#3 by Donavaughn on July 17, 2007 - 10:55 am
Nice response, David. My only add her is to point out that structured development is not a function of the technology, necessarily. Rather, it is a function of the development team and those driving policy. Development teams need Word (for formal SDLC documents), a source control program, and code documentation (commenting) standards. Ok, maybe Visio would be helpful too. The point? Commenting can happen in RPG and PHP. It’s the people and the best practices they follow that make code readable and supportable and, thus, less risky.
I know, I’m all over the board here. Just in a hurry.
dj