Nice write up, Tim. Thanks!
> On Apr 9, 2018, at 7:06 AM, Tim Nevels via 4D_Tech <4d_tech@lists.4d.com>
> wrote:
>
> I got back from 4D Summit 2018 in Washington DC and thought I’d post a few of
> my thoughts and comments about this year’s summit.
>
> I went to JPR’s advanced class and he made a statement at the end that I
> think really sums of 4D v17. He said this is the biggest update in the
> history of 4D. Bigger than 4D v3 and 4D Server v1 with multiple processes and
> windows. And v17 is only the beginning of the changes that are coming.
>
> There are more features and changes that are far along in development that
> will be released in v17 R releases and in v18 that will position 4D as the
> premier, cross-platform RAD package combining an integrated client/server
> database that has a ORDA interface. There is nothing out there can come close
> to it. Particularly when you realize this is a cross-platform solution.
> Compiled, native macOS and Windows versions of a piece of software from the
> same source code. Integrated, powerful client/server database included. The
> same piece of software can run as a single-user application or as a
> client/server application. Tell me who else is doing that? And don’t forget
> “4D for iOS” as the delicious cherry on top! We’ve got a software application
> development system that is going to be very hard to beat.
>
> What is ORDA? It is not a “a historical sociopolitical and military structure
> of Mongol Eurasia”. This is a new term that 4D has created. It stands for
> Object Relational Database Access. I’m guessing in a few years if you Google
> ORDA that will be for number one link.
>
> ORDA is coming to the 4D language. That is why we have the “dot notation”
> option for the method editor. It is needed for ORDA. I think a quick way to
> summarize ORDA is to say “if you know how Wakanda did database access with
> JavaScript that is what ORDA is in the 4D programming language”. 4D is
> bringing the advanced object oriented database access that Wakanda has to 4D.
> This is going to change the way you will WANT to program in 4D.
>
> I say “want” because if you are happy using the 4D language the way it is now
> and has been for 25+ years you are free to continue to do that. JPR calls it
> “classic 4D”. It will continue to work exactly as it has before. But if you
> use the new ORDA method you will reap many benefits. Easier to read code,
> fewer lines of code, complete control of exactly what relations are used
> between tables to retrieve data and big speed improvements. That’s right,
> using ORDA to accomplish a relational database lookup and data retrieve task
> can in many situations be much faster than doing the same thing with a series
> of “classic” 4D language commands. So for all you “speed hounds”, you are
> going to want to use ORDA. (Side note: when Laurent designed the 4D v11
> database engine he had in mind ORDA and planned for the optimizations. This
> thing has been in development for many, many years.)
>
> If you have used Wakanda or know how it accesses the 4D database in an object
> oriented way, you already know how to use ORDA in 4D. That’s because it uses
> basically same syntax as Wakanda. In my opinion this the beginning of
> bringing all that is great about Wakanda and making it an integral part of
> 4D. Use it if you want, or ignore it and continue to use the classic
> programing language. Or use them both. You have a choice.
>
> When I heard about the 4D Summit Advanced class and that JPR would also
> joined by Laurent I knew something special was coming to 4D. (Laurent had to
> be there because the subject matter was so new and broad that JPR would not
> have answers to all questions. And that turned out to be true.) I thought
> they were going to introduce a new language to 4D. JavaScript for 4D. My
> visions were that there would be “Begin JavaScript” and “End JavaScript”
> commands like they “Begin SQL” and “End SQL” commands that would let you
> write JavaScript and do fancy things like you can do in Wakanda with
> JavaScript. I was wrong. There is no JavaScript support in 4D, and there
> probably never be — outside of web areas.
>
> Many, many changes to the 4D language are coming. I sat at a table with
> Laurent and some other 4D developers at lunch one day and Laurent said the
> new 4D language will be “JavaScript inspired”. He intends to add features to
> the 4D language so that it will be even better than JavaScript! Inheritance,
> error handling, custom data classes and the list goes on and on. The days of
> the 4D language not getting updated are over. The changes are just getting
> started. Reminds me of that movie where the character says “Badges? we don’t
> need no stinking badges”. JavaScript? We don’t need no stinking JavaScript.
> We are going to have something better. This is good news!
>
> One example of a change in the 4D language is the “For each” loop control
> structure. Super useful and needed when dealing with objects and containers.
> More is coming. The doors to the 4D Engineer’s cages in France have been
> opened and they are going to begin running wild attacking problems and
> limitations we have had for many years with the language. Making things
> easier to do. And making things that were not possible before, possible now.
> This is good news!
>
> So you want an example of ORDA and changes to the 4D language? Here’s one
> form JPR’s advanced class. (Hope I am not doing copywriter infringement
> here.)
>
> You have a table called “Employee”. Just one table. It has a “managerID”
> field and has a relation back to the “ID” field of the same table. (Yeah,
> that’s not possible in the current version of 4D, but it is in v17.) The name
> of the relation is “manager”. Find all Employees working for a manager whose
> “firstname” is “Laurel”. Here is how you would do it now:
>
> QUERY([Employee];[Employee]firstname="Laurel") // First Query
> ARRAY LONGINT($arIDs;0)
> SELECTION TO ARRAY([Employee]ID;$arIDs)
> QUERY WITH ARRAY([Employee]managerID;$arIDs)
>
> That gives you a selection of [Employee] records. Here is how you do it via
> ORDA in v17:
>
> $entSel:=ds.Employee.query("manager.firstname = ‘Laurel’ “)
>
> That is it. One line of code. That gives you an entity collection which is
> very much like a selection of records. And this is faster than QUERY,
> SELECTION TO ARRAY and QUERY WITH ARRAY.
>
> And it can be recursive. Say you want to find the managers of the managers
> whose name is “Laurel”. You do it like this:
>
> $entSel:=ds.Employee.query("manager.manager.firstname = ‘Laurel’ “)
>
> 4D Summit 2018 would not be complete without mentioning 4D for iOS. I called
> it the “delicious cherry” and it is. This is a component that 4D is creating
> to allow you to create an iOS application. The potential here is huge. They
> are only at the beginning of the development of this product. They have not
> decided on the pricing yet. Total feature set it still unknown. But we got a
> taste of what is possible with this component.
>
> The component is preinstalled in v17 and is integrated into the “File” menu
> so you can select a menu item to create a new “iOS Project”. That opens a
> window that lets you define the project. Select tables and fields you want to
> provide access to in the iOS application. Select templates for how it will
> look in the list views and detail views. Then click a “Build” button. That
> generates a complete XCode project folder with all needed files, tells XCode
> to build the project and then launches the built iOS application in the iOS
> Simulator application on your Mac so you can test it. It connects to a 4D
> Server using the 4D Mobile interface. Data is cached to the iPhone and saved
> to a “local data store” so it is fast and does not required a constant
> connection to 4D Server to use it. First version of 4D for iSO is read only,
> but later versions will allow changing data on the iPhone and having it
> automatically sync back to 4D Server.
>
> This is a real iOS application created by XCode. So you can build an app and
> submit it to the Apple App Store if you want. Make a million bucks if you
> can. Or you can submit to the Enterprise App Store and distribute it
> privately to select people in the company you are developing it for. The
> wheels start turning in your mind about what is possible now. I already have
> one client that is begging for an iOS app to access their 4D Server
> application. I think this will be the ticket to making that happen for a
> price they are willing to pay. And they will pay me for this instead of
> another iOS application developer that I would have to contract to build the
> iOS app. This is good news!
>
> 4D Summit 2018 was a big event. Many new technologies were presented. They
> gave a hint of roadmap for the future and what was possible. Spending an hour
> at lunch with Laurent was inspiring. Work that he and the 4D Engineering team
> have doing for the last 5+ years are now coming to fruition. Things are ready
> to be put into a production product and distributed to developers. He built
> it for us to use. He wants it to be right and of high quality. It is
> something he is proud of. You can tell that when you speak to him about it.
> He is excited about what is going to be released. And he’s not done yet. He
> has more in the pipeline. This is just what is ready now. More is coming.
> This is good news!
>
> Tim
>
> *****************************************
> Tim Nevels
> Innovative Solutions
> 785-749-3444
> timnev...@mac.com
> *****************************************
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