Quick Screen Index Retrieval Mystery

[Deskin, Bob]

I include this because it's semi-relevent, historical, and I thought it was
funny.

Many years ago the person responsible for our software specialist training
program put together an act to show the "software specialist from hell". He
would come in dressed in a business suit that looked like he slept in it,
smoked a cigaretter dangling over the customer's keyboard, and would proceed
to talk about all sorts of problems. And this was a sales pitch! At one
point he says "and if you can't do it that way, we've got lots of procedures
you can CODE!". 

I almost fell off my chair when I saw it.

Bob Deskin              
Senior Product Advisor, Application Development Tools, Cognos Inc.
bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 4205 FAX: (613) 228-3149
3755 Riverside Drive P.O. Box 9707 Stn. T, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA


> ----------
> From: 	Chris Sharman[SMTP:Chris.Sharman@ccagroup.co.uk]
> Sent: 	April 14, 1999 3:55 AM
> To: 	witkopp@idt.com
> Cc: 	Chris.Sharman@ccagroup.co.uk; powerh-l@lists.swau.edu
> Subject: 	RE: Quick Screen Index Retrieval Mystery
> 
> >Chris, you've said this before so I'll say this again:
> >Unless they've changed the advanced course since I took it,
> >Cognos does not advocate (nor does the class manual) excessive
> >procedural code. In fact, they teach the opposite, with
> >detailed explanation of ACCESS statements and built-in procedures.
> >
> >> I'm inclined to think early attendance of the advanced course 
> >> is a bad thing
> >> for this reason: 3GL programmers should be thoroughly 
> >> retrained & undergo a
> >> prolonged abstinence from procedural code before they're 
> >> allowed procedures
> >> again, otherwise they can be inclined to take the 
> >> (superficially) easy option
> >> of retaining their old concepts & methodologies.
> 
> Yes, yes. I'll agree that the course material is probably correctly
> balanced,
> but it cannot help but provide die-hard 3GL programmers with the means to
> avoid
> the relatively alien 4GL concepts.
> 
> You can call it a failure on the part of some pupils to listen closely, or
> you
> can consider it, as I do, a case of giving them too much training too
> soon,
> and leaving them to pick up the comfortable bits (ie good old 3GL
> programming).
> We sent two people on the advanced course, and one of them included all
> procedures ever after, and resisted all persuasion otherwise, although the
> other trainee was fine.
> 
> The original poster apparently has legacy code from a similar 3GL-happy
> programmer, and there are doubtless plenty of them out there: concepts are
> _much_ harder to teach and learn than languages.
> 
> Perhaps there's a case for a 3/4 day intermediate course, with concepts
> and
> extra procedures (input, edit, process, pre/post etc), leaving the default
> procedures alone.
> 
> Regards, Chris
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Chris Sharman			Chris.Sharman@CCAgroup.co.uk
> CCA Stationery Ltd, Eastway, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9WS.
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