Where Have All The 4GLs Gone?
By Chris Keene at September 11, 2008 5 Comments|
People often ask whether Ruby on Rails is a competitor to WaveMaker. My response is that WaveMaker is for people who don’t want to learn a new language to build web apps, RoR is for people who do. In Proustian fashion, Brad looks at the new cloud computing tools in hopes of recapturing that sense of power that comes from working with a well-designed 4GL:
This is the elephant under the table in web programming today – it is no longer possible for mere mortals to build basic business applications. Even formerly technical guys like myself and Brad are intimidated by the bookshelf worth of O’Reilly books you need to read just to get started with web development. WaveMaker has a very strong 4GL pedigree and is funded by Mitchell Kertzman (of PowerBuilder fame) and Roger Sippl (of Informix 4GL fame). Our belief is that the time has come for a 4GL web development solution. Ten years ago, there were loads of ways to build client/server apps easily – PowerBuilder, MS Access, Lotus Notes, Filemaker. None of those tools have made the leap to the web, leaving a huge market vacuum. It has been so long since there have been decent tools for non-expert developers that people have literally forgotten what a 4GL even looks like. The best proof of this is the many comments on Brad’s post by people who think that coding frameworks like Ruby on Rails and Django are reasonable substitutes for a 4GL. This is not to slight Rails and Django, just to say that these products are targeting making hard-core developers even more productive. They are absolutely not appropriate for visual developers who don’t want to do any programming in the first place. |
Tags:
4GL, Ruby on Rails, web development
5 Comments
What is the role of Python in web development, and how are the boundaries drawn between Python and the other required languages?
I guess it’s a matter of how much control you need – widget based vs. intricate logic.
Python is a bit strange initially (to those used to curly’s and semicolons, etc.), but it’s kind of fun once you get started. I learned Python to build my app on Google App Engine (see my link above) pretty quickly. Also, it has a good community – e.g., see http://pypi.python.org.
I have to agree whole heartedly. I have developed some quite sophisticated systems for desktops using VisualAge for Smalltalk including the web interface module & while I still had to learn smalltalk, I loved the speed with which I could build a working app & working webpages. I also develop using Ruby on Rails & really like it & was saying to my workmates 2 years ago that if the genius behind VisualAge (his name is Dave Thomas & he conceived VisualAge) were to apply his skills to creating a 4GL for the web on top of Rails & exploiting JavaScript, he would have a winner. So I am now super keen to see what Wave Runner can do.
Doug M
“None of those tools have made the leap to the web, leaving a huge market vacuum.”
Check out Oracle Application Express (Apex), which is a no-cost option for the database (and is free if you use Oracle XE). Apex is already starting to fill the vacuum you are talking about.
We would like to also humbly suggest that developers look at Servoy (www.servoy.com) as a possible upgrade to an old 4GL. We convert hundreds of “old 4gl-ers” who need ease of use along with the Internet. Please give us a look over! We have a free community edition that makes it easy to try.