I've often postulated that few computer languages are changing as fast as RPG. Although it originated more than 40 years ago, RPG has evolved from a punch card heritage to a fully featured language that drives many modern business applications, in only a little more than a decade.

But has your programming style kept pace with RPG's evolution? It was only a few short years ago when I first wrote an RPG IV style guide and, despite my attempts to update it since then, my old, comfortable approaches to style, standards, and best practices get more outdated with every new release. In this article, I revisit and revise my suggestions for writing stylish RPG IV code.

It's no secret that the Integrated Language Environment helps us all write more modular applications. Modules and service programs make it easy to construct programs from several small, easily maintained, reusable chunks of code. We can even create programs composed of several different languages.

Although development using modular chunks is easy, there is a bit of trouble in paradise. You sometimes need to know which application programs use particular modules and service programs. This is especially true when you modify modules and service programs, because you must rebind them to your application programs for the changes to take effect. In the past, there has been no convenient way to determine the modules and service programs your applications use. But now, you can have the Anzilepgm utility do the research and present the information to you.

A comprehensive glossary of RPG IV and ILE terms