First and foremost, the build process must produce consistent results, but efficient use of developers' and builders' time is important too.

By Joe Cropper

Go into this directory. Select these source files. Right-click here. Export this. Rename that. Copy the renamed file there. Does this sound familiar? Yes! It is your build process! Wouldn't it be nice if you could (conveniently) build your Java project with a single mouse-click or a single command? The good news is that you can--with the Apache Software Foundation's Ant tool (named "Ant" by its creator, James Duncan Davidson, because it's a little thing that can build big things).

IBM continues to make life easier for SQL developers.

By Kent Milligan

As SQL becomes more widely used by i5/OS developers, it's important for IBM to continue to enhance the tools and utilities supporting the SQL interface to increase the adoption of SQL. The Run SQL Statements (RUNSQLSTM) system command is one of those SQL utilities that is enhanced in V6R1 to make life easier for SQL developers.

Quit storing your applications' property values in data areas, and make your programs easier to understand.

By David Mayle

One of the programming practices I've never cared for is the use of data areas to store property values for an application. While a data area is a useful tool for the programmer who designed the system, it isn't user-friendly for those of us who need to work on it later.

Use SQL functions to create RPG functions.

By Kevin Forsythe

If you've been using SQL, you've probably noticed that there are many functions built into SQL that RPG doesn't have. We could go to a lot of effort to re-create those in RPG, but it's much easier to just leverage the existing SQL FUNCTIONS. To make this happen, we need to create an RPG module with embedded SQL. That module will contain a series of date-related functions, and we'll compile that module into a service program for use by other RPG programs.

Reveal frame secrets to make your Web applications act cooler.

By Jan Jorgensen

I like frames. I know a lot of Web developers will dislike that I say that, and if you don't believe me, go to Google and search for "I hate frames." But I don't care, and I'll tell you why I like them.

When I develop Web applications, I do it in-house. This means that I'm most interested in providing functionality. Normally, I don't use a lot of images, and I don't  use Flash-not because I don't like them but because I consider myself a Web programmer, not a Web designer. What's the difference?

This simple utility can help you clean up those unwanted IFS files and perhaps give you an opportunity to learn some new techniques and utilities.