Is Progress still a viable option for development?

[piperent]

I'm an old timer when it comes to Progress (been using it since Version 4), and it seems to me that as a development language, it has seen better days. Is it just me, or does this feeling permeate throughout the Progress Developer's world in general? When I look at the postings to this forum, I only see sixteen (16!!!) posts in the last sixty (count'em, 60) days. That seems a little sparce, and I would imagine that it is an indication of the state of general use by developers. No questions need be asked if no-one uses the language.

Are there active (new) applications being developed and marketed for this platform (other than MFG-PRO)? Does the language lend itself to cost feasible implementations or is it (simply put) for those sites that have mega-bucks, mega-resources, and limitless time to devote to development, support, and maintenance? Where are all the jobs that are normally generated by growing, expanding program languages? Check out the Progress Programming jobs available in any single region and tell me what you find. I'd venture a guess that you can count them on one finger.

No one need respond to this little query. I just throw it out there to generate some thoughtful insight into what seems to be a diminishing, whithering beast of a language. It is apparent that the industries new growth has moved in a different direction from the Progress's and Oracle's of the old RDBMS world. Like Cobol, Assembler, Standard C, and even C++, the high level database languages seem to be entering the age of obsolesence and Progress appears to be leading the charge into obscurity.

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please feel free to expound.

 

[HelloMike]

I have also been using Progress since V4, but I suspect my point of view is rather different from yours. To deal with your points in turn (although probably not all of them) ...

The language is still moving with the times - have you tinkered with the new .net ado stuff in v10 yet?

You don't see many postings to this forum primarily because the Progress user community has its own specialist forum elsewhere - check out the Progress Email Group at

http://www.peg.com.

You'll see hundreds of postings per day there, and respondents include most of the best brains in the business. That's why few questions are asked here - those in the know go elsewhere. It's no reflection on tek-tips, it's just how the Progress community has developed. And it's not an indication of the decline & fall of Progress either.

There are still plenty of new applications being developed for the Progress platform - I'd be worried about my career if that were not the case

And those applications are primarily in the mid-range cost teir, not the megabucks Oracle & SAP league, although some apps do compete in terms of complexity & scalability, and compete very effectively on TCO.

I agree that if you're looking for jobs and/or contracts you need a fairly effective telescope - Progress is still a niche product when compared with the likes of Oracle, SQL-Server, C++, etc.

Back to the language - it's neither diminishing nor withering, but I agree that it's becoming a bit of a beast. But where else can you find a 4GL that will do everything you want it to do without having to leave the cosy confines of a single language?

Progress isn't leading the charge into obscurity - thanks to PSC's stealth marketing department it's always been obscure but it will still be around for a good while yet.

Just my 2p (still no euros).

Mike.

 

[KenCunningham]

...and certainly judging by the jobs advertised on Jobserve, for what they're worth, there is certainly still a reasonable demand for Progress developers.