Well, my first languages were SOAP 2 and GATE on an IBM 650; no way do I want to go back.
REXX is widely available in the sense that implementations are available for just about everything, unlike VBSCRIPT. Likewise Perl. As for installation, that comes with the territory. Unless it's bundled with the OS, you need to install it. Maybe it's a hassle in windows, but in ArcaOS and openSUSE installing a package from the repository is trivial. As long as it's properly packagerd for SMP, it's easy in z/OS as well. I doubt that it's any harder with VMSESS, or whater z/VM uses these days. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected]] on behalf of Bob Bridges [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 12:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: strange python announcement I really like REXX, but I gotta agree about the math. Had to write a SQRT function for myself, once, though I don't recall now why I needed it. If I had to write really serious programs, I suppose I'd have to go back to PL/1, which I still think is one of the best I ever learned. Or maybe it's just because it was my first :). For some values of "serious"; I'm lazy enough to prefer interpreted languages. I'll switch in a minute, though, if there ever appears a widely available interpreter for an object-oriented language. Here I sit back, confidently expecting a raft of nominations, but please note I said "interpreter" and "widely available". I'd define VBScript as "widely available" on the PC, not because everyone uses it but because it'll run on any Windows machine - no special installation required. Is there any OO language like that in z/OS? --- Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 /* When I face an issue of great import that cleaves both constituents and colleagues, I always take the same approach. I engage in deep deliberation and quiet contemplation. I wait to the last available minute and then I always vote with the losers. Because, my friend, the winners never remember and the losers never forget. -Sen. Everett Dirksen */ -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Seymour J Metz Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 11:23 I'm a REXX advocate, but it is a terrible language for Mathematics. The lack of arrays is enough to take it off the table. C has a similar problem; it has arrays, but the are one dimensional, and array of pointers are not suitable alternatives to multi-dimensional arrays; try writing an efficient transpose routine. I haven't looked at the STL to see how C++ stacks up in that regard. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
