Programming in RPG IV, Second Edition [Paperback]

Judy Yaeger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2000

Bryan Meyers and Judy Yaeger have teamed up to write the RPG IV guide no programmer should be without. The newest edition of this popular textbook/manual has been fully updated through V4R4. New chapters explore in detail the topics of defining data with Definition Specifications and modular programming concepts. This easy-to-understand book gives you a strong foundation in the essentials of business programming and helps you master the latest techniques and features of RPG.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

RPG IV, the version of the RPG language that participates in IBM’s Integrated Language Environment (ILE), represents a dramatic step forward in RPG’s evolution. RPG IV diverges from its predecessor, RPG III, in significant ways. However, to encourage adoption of the new ILE RPG/400 compiler and to prevent a nightmare for those programmers faced with maintaining older RPG programs, IBM made this latest release largely “backward-compatible” with older versions of RPG. Programs written before 1995 can easily be converted to RPG IV and subsequently modified, without the need for complete program rewrites. Although such backward-compatibility is a practical solution for language developers, it means that the language must retain some components that, in fact, the new features make obsolete.

Writing a textbook about a new version of a language, then, presents authors with a difficult decision: How much emphasis should be given to those features that, although still available in the language, really represent an outmoded approach to programming? Giving obsolete syntax equal importance with the language’s more modern features might inappropriately encourage students to write outdated code; at the very least, equal coverage can unnecessarily complicate the learning process. On the other hand, ignoring those obsolete features completely would give students an incomplete understanding of the language and would ill prepare them for program-maintenance tasks.

This textbook tries to solve the dilemma by initially presenting students with the most suitable, modern techniques that RPG IV offers for solving typical programming problems. Thus, Chapters 2 through 12 feature only the appropriate methods and strategies that contemporary programmers use. In recognition of program-maintenance needs, however, the final chapter of the book (Chapter 13: Maintaining the Past) details the features of RPG IV that students must know about when they tackle maintenance tasks in the real world.

Programming in RPG IV, like its predecessor, Programming in RPG/400, tries to bridge the gap between academia and the business world by presenting all the facets of RPG IV needed by a professional programmer. The material is introduced incrementally, and the book is organized so that students quickly begin writing complete -- although simple -- programs. Each successive chapter introduces additional information about RPG IV syntax and fundamental programming methods, so that students become increasingly proficient at developing RPG IV programs -- programs that grow in complexity as students progress through the book.

Each chapter includes a brief overview, which orients students to the material contained in the chapter, and a chapter summary, which reviews the chapter’s major points. The end-of-chapter sections include discussion/review questions, exercises, and programming assignments designed to help students develop their analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as their proficiency with RPG IV syntax. These end-of-chapter sections remain basically unchanged from Programming in RPG/400, although they now require solutions in RPG IV, rather than RPG III.

The programming assignments at the end of each chapter are arranged roughly in order of difficulty, so that instructors can assign programs appropriate to their time schedules and their students’ abilities. Although none of the program solutions are long by commercial standards, some of the necessary algorithms are quite difficult; the assignments require time and effort on the part of the students to develop correct solutions. Unfortunately, there is no “easy road” to becoming a good programmer, nor can students learn to deal with program complexity by merely reading or talking it about it. Programming, as much as any other activity we know, is truly a matter of “learning by doing.” Those students interested in becoming MIS professionals must recognize that they have chosen a rewarding -- but demanding and challenging -- profession, and they need to realize that they must be willing to work hard to succeed in this profession.

To give students experience developing application systems, rather than programming in a vacuum, most of the programming assignments relate to three fictitious companies and their application needs (described in Appendix F). By working on these assignments, students should gain a sense of how a company’s data files are repeatedly used by numerous applications for different, related purposes.

Included in this new edition of Programming in RPG IV are new chapters on defining data with Definition Specifications (Chapter 3) and modular programming concepts (Chapter 10), as well as an appendix summarizing RPG IV specifications, keywords, built-in functions, operation codes, and edit codes (Appendix A) and an RPG IV style guide (Appendix B). All other material has been fully updated and is current to V4R4.

Although a complete introduction to using the AS/400 is beyond the scope of this text, Appendix C introduces students to working on the system using the Programmer menu and Programming Development Manager (PDM). Appendix D acquaints students with Source Entry Utility (SEU). Appendix E provides some insights into program testing and debugging, often bewildering processes for beginning programmers.

Depending on the length of the school term and the pace of the course, some instructors may choose to present this material over two terms. Alternately, you may decide to omit some of the more technical chapters of the text or skip those chapters less central to RPG IV. To provide students with the minimal information needed by entry-level programmers, you should present Chapters 1 through 10 and 13.

An instructors manual is available to those instructors adopting this text for classroom use. The manual provides answers to the review questions and solutions to the exercises. The manual also includes a CD with the data files needed for the programming assignments, the source code for the solutions to the programming assignments, and copies of the output produced by the solutions.

From the Inside Flap

This new edition of Programming in RPG IV includes new chapters that explore in detail the topics of defining data with Definition Specifications and modular programming concepts (including dynamic and static binding, subprocedures and the CALLP operation, and sharing data via data areas), as well as an RPG IV summary appendix and an RPG IV style guide. In addition, all other material throughout the book has been fully updated for Version 4 Release 4.

Programming in RPG IV provides a strong foundation in the essentials of business programming, featuring the newest version of the RPG language: RPG IV. Focusing on real-world problems and down-to-earth solutions, this easy-to-understand textbook will help you master the latest techniques and features of RPG to make you stand out in the highly competitive AS/400 employment market.

The book is designed to give students a thorough understanding of how to use RPG IV effectively in a variety of practical applications. Students experience how to develop an application system of programs to meet the information-processing needs of three different companies.

If you’ve used Dr. Yaeger’s RPG/400 textbook, Programming in RPG/400, you’ll find the transition to this book painless. If you’re a new user, you’ll find that the book provides everything you need to know to write a well-designed RPG IV program. Each chapter builds on the previous ones and includes informative, easy-to-read explanations and examples as well as a section of thought-provoking questions, exercises, and programming assignments that reinforce the knowledge gained from the chapter and strengthen the groundwork for succeeding chapters.

The scope of the book includes the development of RPG; top-down, structured design; RPG IV specifications, operations, and built-in functions; file definition, access, and manipulation; interactive applications; in-depth data definition -- including RPG IV data types, tables, and arrays; modular programming concepts; and a summary of RPG’s fixed-logic cycle and use of indicators -- components of older versions of RPG often encountered on the job in maintenance programming.

Six appendices supplement the material covered in the chapters, providing a summary of RPG IV specifications, keywords, built-in functions, operation codes, and edit codes; an RPG IV style guide; introductions to program development on the AS/400, the basics of SEU, and the process of debugging programs; and the data-file definitions for the assignments. A comprehensive glossary supports the topics and terminology presented throughout the book.

Use Programming in RPG IV today to learn the fundamentals of business programming in RPG IV; use it tomorrow as a convenient, helpful reference.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: 29th Street Press; 2 edition (July 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583040749
• ISBN-13: 978-1583040744
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! but CHECK THE REVISION CODE!, April 18, 1999

By 

[e-mail], Keven Mehaffy (IOWA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming in RPG IV: Expanded Skills for Continued Success (Paperback)

I am currently entering my 2nd semester using this book! the book itself is excellant and well written, especially for the beginner! But take care of which version you get! The only Dif. is the number on the inside cover, and the color of the printer spacing charts in the exercises, while the good oone has all black charts. The book with 123456KP10987 under the ISBN number on the inside page FALLS APART! (Happened to EVERY classmate who used it!), the BAD version also has blue green colored charts in the chapter exercises. BUT ... IT IS A GREAT BOOK TO LEARN FROM!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to RPG IV, October 17, 1998

By 

Debbie Terrill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming in RPG IV: Expanded Skills for Continued Success (Paperback)

My workgroup purchased this book some time ago. Judy writes excellent, no-nonsense books about RPG programming. We all find this to be a very helpful text. Especially our junior programmers find it useful. For example, she has a whole chapter on structured programming. That's something the senior programmers don't care about (and one therefore doesn't much like the book), but still it's an excellent text. It's usually pretty easy to find what you need in the index, and her examples are easy to follow.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book to learn RPG/ILE by!, November 4, 1998

By 

Eric Christensen ([e-mail]) (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming in RPG IV: Expanded Skills for Continued Success (Paperback)

This book was issued to me while I was in school. (Yes, there are school out there that actually teach RPG, CL and other AS/400 concepts) I have read many books on RPG and this one definitely made a difference for me in learning the concepts clearly. For beginners there is really no substitute for this book. Once I got into the workforce and saw the huge amounts of RPG III programs that my company had, I felt a bit dismayed, but Judy has a chapter in the book entitled "Maintaining the Past", and that chapter helped me out so very much. Once again this is a beginner book, but a very good one. I still use it as a reference too. I might add that Robert Cozzi's book is the best for reference information that I have found.