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From: dmc@sei.cmu.edu (Dawn Cappelli)
Newsgroups: comp.databases,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: 4GL and  Application Prototyping in Databases
Keywords: 4GL DBMS prototype maintainability OSL QBF
Message-ID: <3656@fp.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 18 Jul 89 21:05:42 GMT
References: <378@proexam.UUCP>
Reply-To: dmc@sei.cmu.edu (Dawn Cappelli)
Organization: Software Eng. Inst.;Carnegie-Mellon U.; Pittsburgh, PA 15213   _USA_
Lines: 35


I've been using INGRES 4GL for a few years, currently at the SEI, and 
prior to that at Westinghouse.  I've developed some fairly sophisticated
applications, some of which consisted of over 100 frames.  I'd hate to 
have to develop those same applications with a 3GL.

It's true that you can write a lot of code using INGRES 4GL - 
you can end up with some pretty large 4GL programs.  However, I have also
used 4GL's with which you can't generate a lot of code.  They're quite easy 
to learn & to use, but you also are highly constrained as to what you
can do with them, which severely limits application functionality.

Also, one should take advantage of the ability to call procedures in INGRES 4GL
to minimize the amount of code generated.  

I think the background of the programmers has a lot to do with the success 
of using ABF in an organization.  INGRES 4GL is NOT easy for people 
with no programming background.  However, someone with a programming 
background is very likely to prefer INGRES 4GL over some of the other 
packages which are easier to use, yet not as flexible and high level as they
may need.  A 4GL, after all, should be a "higher level" language!

I've successfully used INGRES for prototyping applications.  I think that
prototypes are greatly misused, however.  People tend to develop 
rapid prototypes with little or no up-front design, in which case the
prototype should be thrown away after it has served its purpose, and then
the final system built.  If an organization develops a rapid prototype with 
no up-front design, then tries to build the final system upon it, then it's 
the software process which should be blamed, not the tool.
With sufficient up-front design, INGRES 4GL is a very good application 
development and maintenance tool.
-- 
Dawn Cappelli	dmc@sei.cmu.edu   sei!dmc     (412) 268-6170

This is only my opinion, and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinion of the SEI.