Kelly

About C# . . . Most of the programs I have seen in almost 30 years on this platform (starting with S/38) are in RPG. As recommended, focus on “RPGLE using RPG IV”. Coming from a Windows environment you may find free-form RPG somewhat familiar.

Explore IBM’s version of Eclipse/RDi for code development. It is so much faster than using green-screen SEU. Plus, it may be another point of comfort when coming from Windows.

Another point that may give you a bit of comfort . . . IBM does not change things capriciously. We are running utilities developed in the early 80′s and have never had to change a line of code even though we are running 6.1. A long time ago, one of the senior IBMers in the midrange division said in his lecture, “IBM is committed to protecting your investment in software.” IMHO IBM continues to delivered on that committment year after year.

That doesn’t mean you are a novice, that means you are someone willing to grow for the good of your company and your career. You are on the way to becoming the “integration guru” because you understand the fundamentals of all the pieces.

Some peoples’ knowledge is deep but narrow, others are wide but shallow. The wider your knowledge, the less susceptible you are to becoming obsolete (because you can always dig a little deeper as needed.)

Well, consider that everything on the IBM i has a manual which explains it and many subjects have redpapaers which explain how to use ‘it’
Windows by comparison is unstructured, undisciplined, and every release of windows, or even an application like ‘Word’ is not backward compatible.

I’ve been using this series of machines for decades, and I havne’ t touched stuff you’re already familiar with. and I still grapple with 20 year old code on a daily basis. And it still provides value for its owner, after several changes of hardware. No other business system does that.

And if you look into the RPGIV language, you find that it can handle XML access all the C functions, use API’s and MI instructions, manage memory and anything other languages can do. Focus your learning onto the language comprehensively by reading around the forums and writing non-critical R&D stuff in your spare time. Object management tools are usually a good start, Job controls – a better way of reporting errors and so on.

Once you have a small corner you call your own – integration of system API’s, say you can say to your guru
‘here’s a little routine i wrote which extracts all the fields atttributes form a file object, and presents a journal entry on screen parsed into a viewable display using system API’s’

You are the instant guru of API writing.

Work outwards from there..

And coming from iSeries, I find the Windows environment to have a steep learning curve. I’d spend a month trying to figure out a reasonable install strategy for Exchange. I can work with SQL via MSDE, but I’d need another month to figure out a reasonable install strategy for SQL Server. And keeping either of them in a decent configuration…? And if anything went wrong…?

It’s always a matter of perspective.

Tom

Coming from a Windows environment(sales) I find the I-Series something of a steep learning learning curve, from both an operational and programming perspective.

Phil, thanks for the encouragement, when I finished writing the post, I did indeed feel that I had acomplished many things, and yes I get that Bi-polar feeling alot!

I used to have four bad days and one good day, now i’m up to 2 good days and 3 bad, so I must be getting the hang of it!

Thanks again for the feedback and will take your comments on board Tom!