17 replies to this topic

[Rajeev]

Hi All PRO IV experts,
Just wanted to know for how many more years will PRO IV exists........ i heard few saying that PRO IV will extinct bcoz of new languages dominating in the market. Then wht wil happen to the existing customer and existing PRO IV developers????????? Kindly give your opinion!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you in advance

[andykay]

I've been hearing the same thing for the past 10 years ...

When will it ever end !?!?!?


AK

[Chris Pepper]

You must realise that this question has been repeatedly asked for many years.
Programming languages hang around for a long time, much longer that you would think.
If you are a young programmer then I would not advise learning ProIV (or Mumps or Dibol or COBOL or FORTRAN or ALgol68) as the main focus of your career; but I'm 50+ and fully expect to be writing ProIV until I retire.
If there is a system in at a company, and it's written in ProIV, and it works then it's not going to be replaced overnight. Lots of application systems have a 10, 20 or even 30 year lifespan. People are still developing code in ProIV, and still maintaining code in it, it basically works so it's not going to go away suddenly.
I think there will be fewer systems out there, and fewer developers but I wouldn't be suprised if there was still ProIV code running in 20 years time! ...after all we still get posts on here from people trying to upgrade systems written in really old versions!

[DARREN]

I have also been writing code in PROIV for nearly 20 years. The core of our application (95% +) is written in it. The development team of about 20 members that I work with is split down middle between PROIV and Java. The Java programmers I must confess are more technically skilled that the PROIV developers, but that being said, the PROIV coders are more productive as they do not need to write reams of code to solve the business problem.

New systems are being developed in PROIV every day and the ones we write here look just as good and have just as much functionality as if they were written in another language - we just write it faster (a rose by another name.....). The other observation I will make is how many enterprise applications have been written in 'the flavor of the month' technologies only to be thrown away or completed at exorbitant costs and then be out of date when they are eventually released (.net etc.)

As someone that attended the PROIV Exec User Group and also as an ex PROIV employee I have insider knowledge on what is coming down the track with PROIV that I obviously cannot comment on at this time. All I will say is be prepared for a revolution.

[GBabula]

I realize you can't get into details but...

...a "good" revolution that will reinvigorate PRO-IV and make it as sexy as some of the currently popular development technologies? Something that we will look forward to with eager anticipation? Something that will finally give some of us the kick in the pants to get off green-screen?

[DARREN]

I realize you can't get into details but...

...a "good" revolution that will reinvigorate PRO-IV and make it as sexy as some of the currently popular development technologies? Something that we will look forward to with eager anticipation? Something that will finally give some of us the kick in the pants to get off green-screen?

Making it "as sexy as some of the currently popular development technologies" is very subjective. If you mean tree controls, list boxes, mouse over graphics yada yada yada then that can be done today (see attached - written using 5.5.) Version 6.1 has so much more.

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[George Macken]

Hi

Northgate seems to be a profitable company and Pro-IV is the language behind a lot of their applications/solutions. I presume that as long as its instrumental in making money for Northgate then they'll continue with the Product.

Rgds

George

[Rajeev]

Hi PRO IV experts,
Thanks for the reply and your opnion on PRO IV. As i am young developer on PRO IV and what would you suggest for me . If i say that i would continue in PRO IV wil i survive or not!!!!!! Please give me your opinion and views.

[andykay]

Rajeev,

If you use the RC to ask questions about problems with ProIV, you will recieve answers from some of the best ProIV programmers around.

But, ask a question like:

If i say that i would continue in PRO IV wil i survive or not!!!!!!

you're more likely to get a meaningful response from prophets at sites like Ask_A_Gypsy.com.


AK

[Rajeev]

hi Ak,
Thanks for your advise and reply . Ok will i survive if i continue my life in PRO IV. Kindl give me the opinion

[Gypsy Rose Lee]

Rajeev

I will look into my crystal ball .... I see many years for you in Proiv .... your path may be crossed by a VIP stranger ... this stranger will promise you many things, only some of them will be true. Tempting virgins (versions?) may also come your way, you must choose carefully and avoid catching unpleasant bugs. There may be important work for you in Sweden .... wait the ball is saying "update in progress" .... ... it seems to be a never ending story ... now it is saying "statement syntax error" .... it's going cloudy

The gypsy says .... work hard Rajeev and you will prosper with any computer language, though the jokes may be better with ProIV ..

Gypsy Rose Lee

[Rajeev]

Hi Gypsy Rose Lee ,
Thanks for your valuable reply and advise. According to your statement there is still a long life for PRO IV. I will definelty update my skill set whether it is PRO IV native or VIP or any other technology for that matter. Incase if i get job on PRO IV. Shall i accept it or not ?????
awaiting your approval
Thanks once again

[Abstract Typist]

Rajeev,

Chris has it right. PROIV is a legacy/obsolescent technology with a small but durable installed base.

You wouldn't focus on COBOL in the hope of advancing your career so don't focus on PROIV. If you are new to PROIV and being offered a job using it, I would say wait for something better. Job opportunities in PROIV are few and far between and scattered around the globe. Shiny new development projects are practically non-existent.

There will be no 'revolution' in PROIV. I have no inside track but the only thing that seems plausible is some kind of AJAX support, about 5 years too late, as usual.

I don't know what to suggest instead but I think you would learn more and have more marketable skills by looking at, for example, Oracle, PL/SQL, Python/Ruby/Rails, CSS/Javascript..

A lot of people might recommend Java, but personally, I'm not totally impressed with Java nowadays. It's become a huge and sprawling thing and, as Darren says, frequently seems to end up absurdly verbose. For example it can't do decimal arithmetic with the regular operators (unless I'm out of date).

[sudhakar]

Rajeev,

If you are working in other technologies like Java, I don't recommend to look into ProIV Jobs. Very few companies are using ProIV around the globe and we should always depend on sponsorships

- Sudhakar

[Glenn Meyers]

I'll give you a hint on my views.....
My son recently finished his tour of duty in the Marines. He's bright, very computer oriented, with windows and hardware savy (better than me!).
He wants to get into the computer industry.

I was the Technical trainer for the Americas for Pro-IV out of Irvine, CA for 2 years.
I will NOT teach him ProIV.

Glenn