What's new with EGL, and what's coming?

By Joe Pluta

And I thought my last article started with some bad news. I'll tell you all the good news about EGL, including the amazing new mashup support, but first the bad news.

The i Loses a Hero

Unless you've been living on Mars, you already know that the System i community lost a true hero recently. Al Barsa Jr. was one of the staunchest allies the platform ever had.

What can .NET technology do for the System i developer?

By Richard J. Schoen

Welcome to the world of Microsoft .NET technology. You're probably not used to seeing the word "Microsoft" in an IBM-related publication. However, as you continue reading, I think you'll find that Microsoft and IBM can play well together in the IBM System i environment. This article introduces .NET technology and provides an overview of how you can utilize it in your current and future System i application development. After reading this, you may find yourself compelled to learn more about the .NET application development environment and ways you can use the Microsoft toolset to quickly develop high-impact desktop and Web-based applications for the System i platform.

Today's JavaScript is a richly expressive, powerful language that's indispensable for developing modern, Web 2.0 applications.

By Duncan Kenzie

JavaScript is the ugly duckling of the Web development world. It doesn't seem to get the respect it deserves. There are probably a few reasons for this:

•·        The name is confusing. Although it has the word "Java" in it, JavaScript bears no relation to Java. It is completely different in philosophy, design, use, and implementation.

•·        The word "Script" makes it sound like a toy language. It conjures up images of "script kiddies" plugging in plagiarized pieces of badly formed code to play pranks on Web sites, or hearkens one's mind back to the days of Visual Basic, when it was a primitive script language.

PHP takes you where RPG can't: into a world of heterogeneous operating systems running the same language.

By Duncan Kenzie

PHP is a highly productive programming language for developing Web applications. As I mentioned in an article in Showcase magazine ("PHP: A Party Waiting for a Few Good Developers"), PHP has been around since 1995 on other platforms and has gone through as many transformations as RPG has during that time. In this article, I'll discuss what PHP can do for you and why you should consider using it.

The language developed for business reporting promises to make financial statements more accurate, easier to produce, and simpler to analyze.

By Chris Smith

With the public's attention focused so intently on the results of financial statements, particularly with what's happening in the mortgage industry, few outside the accounting and IT industries are talking about the technology revolution occurring in the back office affecting how those statements will be prepared.

Implement the latest Web 2.0 bells and whistles so that you can provide not only the prettiest but also the smartest Web apps!

By Duncan Kenzie

It's an axiom of human nature that people generally appreciate beautiful things more than plain ones. This is true of Web applications compared to 5250 applications, too. Although many of us die-hard green-screen fans may extol the virtues of green-screen apps for their ease of use and simplicity, they just don't look as pretty as good Web applications. Of course, prettiness and intelligence don't always go hand in hand, as seems evident by the notorious behavior of a certain hotel heiress. In the case of Web development, though, it is possible to produce applications that are at once functionally powerful and pretty.