I had a conversion client a few years ago that used ScreenGen which was an ABS-based 4GL. Extremely fast but had to scrap it as their AlphaMicro system was showing signs of crashing and they went to a standard package on D3/AIX.
How fast you might ask? It supported 230 simultaneous serial users plus 22 serial printers on a 75Mhz 486. Funny how earlier the effort was borne on the programmer to be as efficient as he could to make up for the deficiencies of the platform. Now-a-days, the processors are so infinitely fast that they clearly cover up less efficient programming. Case in point: My Tuesday client running D3/W2K uses The Programmers Helper and Visual Pick. Granted, one shouldn't look under the hood at the generated source code but some of these created programs are over 9,000 lines of code (no 32K limit here). Not to mention the dozens of INCLUDES that come along for the ride. They compile in about 1 second (Flash Basic) and run as fast as expected with no hesitation from the menus to the programs. My Wednesday client is a 1986 Microdata Spirit system so once a week I'm in a time warp on their system. No useful INCLUDES, difficult external CALLed subs, 32K limits, no Dict Calls and a rickety PERFORM statement. I have to be far more cognizant of my effeciency here as it does make a difference on which method I choose to solve any situation. I can't just write any code that compiles here. I have to pick (no pun intended) the correct method. (BTW, this isn't a solicitation for conversion suggestions. Thanks anyway. But I will accept any coding suggestions.) That gives me a perspective on today's system. Granted, many on this forum came through the ages of MCD/ULT, R80, R83 and other earlier platforms. But, time has erased some of the feelings of those earlier systems as you probably don't touch them today. Therefore, it's easy to forget how far we've come. IMHO, Pick assemly should be given a proper burial as if you have the need, you probably should consider upgrading to a contemporary system. Many, many of the hand-written user-exits and assembly stuff has long since been made standard in contemporary releases. I cannot imagine any business or database logic needing assembler that can't be solved with the 'above board' languages. My 3 cents. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steven M Wagner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 2:05 AM Subject: RE: [U2] PICK Assembler Language > Assembly isn't that bad. I programmed in COBAL and Assembly on GE115s and > the assembly language programming was not that hard. > > As for Pick Assembler. Never used it. Only was at one site that even had > a copy of the Assembler, AlphaMicro. > > I way heard that applications written in Pick Assembler ran very > fast. Although it was easy to trash the system if you made a single mistake. > > Steve > > At 01:07 PM 11/5/04 -0800, you wrote: > >I learned assembly on the IBM 370. Took two whole years of it. > > > >What a waste of time.......never used it once. > > > >My teacher was an ex IBM employee that used to exclusively write I/O > >routines. Last I heard he had gone insane. This gives a bit of insight > >into the difficulty of that language. > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Chuck Mongiovi > >Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 11:42 > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: RE: [U2] PICK Assembler Language > > > > > > > Pick *has* an assembly language???!!! > > > >Back when PICK ran native instead of under Unix (or whatever) .. > > > >And some of us even programmed in it .. > > > >-Chuck > >------- > >u2-users mailing list > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > >------- > >u2-users mailing list > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > > ------ > Steven M Wagner > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cary, North Carolina, United States of America > ------- > u2-users mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
