The problem with recompilation is not purely technical though. ISTM that there is far more bureaucracy needed to monitor and guarantee successful completion of full regression testing at each recompilation than there is payback from using notionally "better" translators and runtimes at a given stage.
In the case where each stage from development to production may reside on physically and/or technically disparate systems, I admit that recompilation seems like a reasonable solution to ensure accurate and effective execution at each stage, but again ISTM that the additional verification requirements are far too onerous a cost both technically and bureaucratically. IMHO, of course. We can certainly agree to disagree on this. As for Jan Vanbrabant's stage names, HOMOLOGATION easily translates to "(Internal or Product) Quality Assurance" and ACCEPTANCE to "Client Test". My organization uses both, though not in disparate technical or physical environments, and always without recompilation. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of John Gilmore Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 2:40 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: To recompile or not recompile, that's the question Predictably I suppose, recompilation gets my vote. The issues involved are technical and not management ones, and bureaucratizing them never helps. Development takes some time, and linking the development version of a PL/I compiler to that in current production use is always a bad idea. It ensures that retrograde technology and performance will be wired into newly developed systems. (This may happen anyway, of course; the use of the best translator is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for high performance. That use can be, often is, perfunctory.) I am also suspicious of Jan Vanbrabant's esclusion of homologation from this discussion. The word is derived from the ancient Greek verb homologein, to approve, which becomes homologare, to agree, in fairly late Latin. (It has a special meaning in Scots law, where it is used to characterize a process of removing minor defects from contracts, the remediated versions of which are then given the force of law.) If, as I suspect, homologation here has to do with ensuring that a systems meets its functional specifications, it is relevant. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
