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Node.js for Enterprise IBM i Modernization

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Five Reasons Why Node Is the Solution your Company Needs Right Now

Editor's note: This article introduces the updated white paper White Paper: Node.js for Enterprise IBM i Modernization, which is free to download from the MC White Paper Center.

Every business around the world uses legacy applications or code to some extent. Fortunately, for businesses on IBM i, these applications are typically very reliable and stable.

But in the age of slick mobile apps, cloud development, and an aging RPG developer pool, holding onto outdated application code and interfaces can hurt today’s businesses where it matters most: their bottom line. When your competition offers an application with a modern GUI, and your end users need tools that help them find and work with data faster, you know it’s time to make the change to modern applications.

So now, the perennial question businesses face when contemplating the modernization of their legacy systems is no longer “when?”, but “how?”

There is certainly no shortage of options when it comes to choosing a path to modernization. But two common approaches – re-writing the application code and migrating to a packaged application – can be riskier than sticking with the legacy applications. Knowing this, it’s no wonder why the path to modern applications is a long and bumpy one for so many businesses.

But there is some good news in the way of a development language called Node.js. You may have heard some buzz around it, as it’s currently in use at some of the world’s top businesses, including Walmart, PayPal, Uber, Netflix, and Google, to name a few. Profound Logic's solutions and services, including RPG-to-Node code transformation, make Node a perfect solution to address your current business challenges. Here are five reasons why we’ve adopted Node for legacy modernization and think you should, too!

Node.js is Enterprise

ReadySome businesses may balk at the idea of using Node for legacy modernization because of its “newness”. So first, some background. Node.js was first conceived in 2009 by developer Ryan Dahl. The open source language is based on JavaScript, and uses JavaScript’s NPM (Node Package Manager). NPM enables hundreds of thousands of developers to share and reuse packages of code – developers from companies like IBM, NASA, Uber, Google, Walmart, and PayPal, to name a few.

So, Node is no longer the “new kid” on the development block, and has a healthy and growing community of users. But how can it handle business applications? Some people would say that it’s not up to the task, in part because of a problem known as “Callback Hell” – aka callbacks within callbacks within callbacks, all of which are difficult to understand and maintain. Profound Logic’s framework for Node.js mitigates this problem for companies on IBM i by streamlining and Profound Logic Node.js for Enterprise IBM i Modernization 4 simplifying application code. This Node.js framework also enables top-down programming, which is a must for most business application development.

Node Packet Manager enables hundreds of thousands of developers to share and reuse packages of code – developers from companies like NASA, Google, Walmart, and PayPal

Other good news for businesses – Node is: blazing fast (it uses the V8 engine developed by Google); used for both client- and server-side programming; an excellent choice for real-time applications; and supported by IBM, which has heavily invested in Node. Ever heard of IBM Watson? Yep, you guessed it: IBM uses Node.js for Watson’s ‘Developer Cloud’ APIs.

Want to learn more? Download the free updated white paper White Paper: Node.js for Enterprise IBM i Modernization, which is free to download from the MC White Paper Center.

 

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Profound Logic is the only IBM i technology partner that takes you beyond modernization and into AI-enhanced futurization. For over 25 years, we've equipped IT teams with cutting-edge solutions in natural language AI, system transformation, API creation/management, and application development. With Profound Logic, the future is flexible, and coexistence is always built-in.

 

To find out more about Profound Logic Software, Inc. and its products see their listings in the MC Showcase Buyer's Guide.

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