Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!tropez!dlucy
From: dlucy@tropez.UUCP (Doug Lucy)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Anyone have Progress beefs?
Summary: Progress Beefs
Message-ID: <185@tropez.UUCP>
Date: 12 Apr 90 16:16:56 GMT
References: <26214C8D.42DD@telly.on.ca>
Organization: DC Pro, Falls Church, VA
Lines: 43

In article <26214C8D.42DD@telly.on.ca>, evan@telly.on.ca  writes:
> I am considering Progress for a number of database applications. Before
> taking the full plunge, I am interested in hearing from those of you who
> have reached its limits, or have come across things it cannot do.

Progress ports very well to all 32 gaskillion machines it runs on, but
the VMS version is a real problem (little doc on how to set permissions)

The HLC (Host Language Call) facility to jumnp to external routines
(for example, C) is very difficult and still does not allow direct
database access.

The speed of the compiled Progress code is still really slow (due to
it's use of stack-machine-like interpretation)

If you are developing applications for customers, i.e. they are using
Runtime Progress and you are using Development, there is a serious 
restriction on the compilation/dictionary change routine. Once you've
given the client a database and the code you've compiled for the 
database, you cannot make a change to the data dictionary without
recompiling all the code, dumping the client's database, and loading
the old data into a database that is "time-stamped" at the same
time as your new compiled code. Progress tokenizes references to the
data structure in compiled code with the actual location of the
records in the database. If you change the data dictionary AT ALL
Progress assumes the token id could be different and disallows you
from using compiled code and databases that COULD be out of sync.
This is a real pain.

Even taking all this and more into account, Progress is okay. I
prefer a REAL programming language where I get to tell the computer
how to make the screen lokk as opposed to an application
development system where the computer decides how the screen will
look and you must tell it what you DON'T want, BUT I still like
Progress.

Any questions, plesae drop me email.


-- 
   "It's such a fine line between stupid..."    | Doug Lucy  703.820.3922
   "...and stupid."                             | DC Pro, Falls Church, VA
   "Yeah, stupid."                              | uunet!tropez!dlucy