what next for Powerbuilder developer -- Java or .net

[Former Member]

Hi guys,

I have been working in Powerbuilder tech for last 10 year and now I find myself at a cross road to upskill myself as jobs have dried up in UK for powerbuilder projects. I have got another year before I hit the job market. I am totally confused as which direction should I go. Java world or .net side. Most companies in UK are moving away from PB product and jobs on offer are with little dev work and more of patch work. It looks only dev work happening in PB is in US.

Guys any suggestion will be really appreciated

thanks,

Viresh

[Former Member]

Hi Viresh;

  This information was just released last week ... TIOBE Index | Tiobe - The Software Quality Company

As far as your IT path is concerned though, I would suggest looking at your local IT job market as each locale will have a different demographic software wise. Also, try and network with IT professionals in your area as well and see what they have been observing.

HTH

Regards ... Chris

[Former Member]

Señor Pollach

Bunos Dias

Segun el listado: TIOBE Index | Tiobe - The Software Quality Company power Builder no aparece por ningun lado.

La innovacion de Power Builder  tiene que ser pronto.

[arnd_schmidt]

PowerBuilder is not a programming language.

You also will not find Eclipse or Visual Studio in this programming language index.

[Former Member]

I think he meant "PowerScript".  

[ricardojasso]

Yes, but PowerScript cannot be considered a programming language in the same arena as the other languages because it is ingrained in the PowerBuilder IDE. One cannot compile PowerScript code without the IDE....for the time being. This will change in the new Appeon version of PowerBuilder which as I understand will allow us to compile PowerScript code outside the IDE.

But even if this happens the important thing to consider is, will PowerScript properties and features be good enough to lure programmers from programming in C, C++, C#, or Java, or from any other language for that matter into programming in PowerScript?

I think PowerScript by itself, (i.e. without the DataWindow), has many interesting properties that can make it a suitable alternative to any of the before mentioned languages, even if one doesn't intend to write business oriented applications. As I have mentioned in other posts, it is clean, easy to understand and easy to program with but still it is object oriented making it a robust language in my opinion.

[Former Member]

Hi Ricardo;

  FWIW: The batch compiler as far as I understand it thus far, will just be a non-visual part of the PB IDE that allows you to basically deploy a project. In fact, it sounds more like an OrcaScript than anything else. Maybe with some much better ootions. At least that is my impression this far.

  I get the impression that this feature comment was directed at PB Shops that were complaining about buying an extra copy of PB just so that they could use it on a dedicated"build" machine.

  For luring low level programmers away from "C", Java, C++, etc - that should be easy with a robust set of controls, PowerScript, GUI, DW, etc improvements that are targeted for the business programmer. Also, RAD & productivity features are still key IMHO.

Regards ... Chris

[ricardojasso]

Chris,

Thanks for the clarification. At this point everything about Appeon's PowerBuilder is still blurred although I have to say we have been given some guides as to where it is heading.

My point is, to program in Java, C, C++ or even in C# you just need in theory a text editor and a compiler.... and a good set of libraries (for example the .NET Framework). In practice of course a good IDE like Visual Studio is welcome specially for building visual stuff but again in theory it is not necessary whereas in PowerBuilder you cannot code without the IDE (correct me on this if I'm wrong) because for starters every object is stored in PBLs which cannot be opened by a simple text editor which in turn then locks the language to the product. Is this bad? Not necessarily in my opinion but it helps explain why we don't see PowerScript in the list of most used languages. The IDE gets old and obsolete, the language follows along.

But I agree 100% in your comments that a robust up to date tool will attract new and past business programmers.

Ricardo

[Former Member]

Correct, PB is not a compiler ... its a development ecosystem really when you think about it.

The PB object source is just that. It's readily available as an export / import via the IDE, OrcaScript or using native source control (my favorite way to keep automatic track of object source).

The main thing to remember is that along with the object source, PB keeps a copy of the compiled object in its PBL's as well. That's why it's always ready to run your applications right after a painter "save" operation. Something that regular compilers just can't do.

Your 100% on the money about the IDE vs Language vs Getting old. It's really Sybase's fault 1st of all trying to convince everyone that we needed a new IDE versus working on adding more .Net features to PB Classic (like WCF) plus controls, DW features, etc. SAP of course has done nothing to move the PB IDE forward during its tenure (so sad). Now we have PB.net based on an outdated VS2010 and almost obsolete.Net framework version support. What a waste of time - that could have been put into PB Classic moving it dramatically forward.

Boy, do we Appeon ASAP!