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AS/400: The E-biz Box

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The AS/400’s reputation is based more on the plethora of quality legacy applications that it runs than on the cutting-edge Internet applications that could run on it. Yet, the AS/400 is a great platform for Web applications. So why isn’t the AS/400 faring so well in the Web server market? One big reason is Microsoft. Microsoft’s Internet technologies provide sound strategies for developing Web applications. But the cross-platform technologies that IBM endorses are also sound strategies. The big difference is that Microsoft provides an incredibly integrated set of development and deployment tools. Go cross-platform and you lose that integrated toolset. You need a Java integrated development environment (IDE), a source control package, a Web application server, and a visual HTML editor. In terms of training, cost, and compatibility, mixing and matching tools from different vendors can quickly become a problem.

AS/400 Integrated Solution

OS/400 hasn’t provided a truly integrated toolset for Web application development—until now. You already know that OS/400 bundles the HTTP Server for AS/400 and WebSphere Standard Edition. As of V4R5, IBM is bundling a complete Web application development environment. Those tools are as follows:

• WebSphere Studio
• CODE/400
• VisualAge for RPG (VARPG)
• VisualAge for Java (VAJ)
• WebFacing Tool

The toolset will cost $300 per seat—a fraction of the cost of purchasing these tools separately. IBM plans to include these tools with OS/400’s current Application Development Tool (ADT). (The bundled products will be the Application Development ToolSet/400 [ADTS].) These tools collectively support not only the latest in Web application development but also the redeployment of legacy applications. Allow me to introduce them to you.

WebSphere Studio


WebSphere Studio is a product that competes with Microsoft’s FrontPage and Macromedia’s Dreamweaver. Tim Berners-Lee (the creator of the Web) never expected people to code HTML directly; he expected them to use visual development environments, such as WebSphere Studio, FrontPage, and Dreamweaver. WebSphere Studio provides a complete environment for managing and debugging multiplatform Web applications, including a visual layout tool for building dynamic Web pages with JavaServer Pages (JSPs) and JavaScript. (Download the complimentary Entry Edition from the IBM WebSphere Studio site at www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/studio/download.html.)

CODE/400 has greatly improved. It provides a distributed editor and source-level debugger for all AS/400 languages from C and C++ to RPG, COBOL, and Java.

VisualAge for RPG

I’m not impressed. Sure, VARPG generates Java byte code from your RPG IV-compatible VARPG source code, but I don’t think the VARPG-code-generated Java byte code is something you’d want to run your e-business application on anyway. Yes, you can use VARPG to generate Java source code, but that code is not maintainable. I’m OK with Java byte code generation, but I’m sure the idea of producing Java source from RPG was an IBM marketing decision—not from the lab. (Visit IBM’s VisualAge RPG and CODE/400 Web site at www-4.ibm.com/software/ad/varpg/download/index.html to download an evaluation version of VARGP. Also consider visiting ASNA’s Web site at www.asna.com to download a trial version of Visual RPG.)

VisualAge for Java

The Professional Edition of VAJ—not the Enterprise Edition—is bundled with ADTS, but it does include the Enterprise Toolkit for the AS/400. There is no Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) support, but all your AS/400 wizards and debuggers are there, as well as support for JSPs and servlets. And that’s exactly what you need.

VAJ provides the most complete support for JSPs and servlets. Couple that support with VAJ’s integration with WebSphere Studio, WebSphere Application Server, and the AS/400, and you’ll find that, today, VAJ is the best solution for Java development on the AS/400. VAJ is also the hardest IDE to use when you are first learning Java, so Java newbies should download Sun’s free Forte for Java.

WebFacing Tool

I give a big thumbs-up for IBM’s new WebFacing Tool. “IBM Clarifies the Future of AS/400 Application Development,” on page 89, provides more detail on the WebFacing Tool.

It’s in There

What cross-platform tools should you buy? IBM has essentially decided for you by bundling tools, as Microsoft does with Visual Basic, Internet Information Server (IIS), and Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). With ADTS, you’ll have a standard toolset—in the same theme as ADT—that will allow you to develop, test, and deploy cross-platform applications that use Java, HTML, JavaScript, and JSPs.

Don Denoncourt is a senior technical editor for Midrange Computing. He can be reached via email at ddenoncourt@ midrangecomputing.com.


CODE/400

Don Denoncourt

Don Denoncourt is a freelance consultant. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

MC Press books written by Don Denoncourt available now on the MC Press Bookstore.

Java Application Strategies for iSeries and AS/400 Java Application Strategies for iSeries and AS/400
Explore the realities of using Java to develop real-world OS/400 applications.
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