Expert: Concise Systems/Laird Scranton - 10/21/2007

Question
QUESTION: I am an old RPG student.  I would like to get back into programming.  I would like to work on my old programs and maybe further my knowledge of RPG 4 and move on to the next step.  I used to connect to a as/400 via/ mochasoft 5250 to my school. I no longer have that option.  If I buy the 5250 Mochasoft software, what can I use as a as/400 host.  Is their some kind of company that offers as/400 hosting services? I would like to write, compile and print off output of my programs.  What is the 5250 emulation software package? Would that work?  Can you help me?

ANSWER: Everyone I know who links by PC to an AS/400 does so through the auspices of a company that owns their own AS/400 server. For your purposes, you might try starting with www.web400.com.  5250 emulation packages allow your PC to function as an AS/400 workstation, printing to a PC printer, and provide basic services like transfer of files between the PC and the AS/400. The typical standard (although probably also the most expensive) for 5250 emulation is IBM's client access software.

Another company that offers AS/400 hosting services is found at http://www.webstream.net/services/ebusiness/AS_400

- Laird

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Laird, What do you see as future empolyment trends for RPG 4,Visual Basic, Cobol, DB2, programmers.  Should I stick with RPG and the like or venture on to other languages?
Thanks,
Diane

Answer
In the Northeast at least, iSeries shops appear to be on the wane.  I have enjoyed the special 'niche' of an RPG programmer, and believe an iSeries to be a very viable choice for business processing for many companies, but expect employment opportunities to decline in the foreseeable future. If I were just starting out, I might choose to learn C# or some other network based language that would support business processing in a SQL Server environment.

- Laird