Microsoft often touts the fact that .NET works with various languages, and its developers have 'choices.' They are not alone. Lotus developers are quite aware that they can work with several languages too. In both Microsoft and Lotus worlds, it is the question of what to use where that must be asked.
With all the high-level marketing messages that it must manage, IBM has had a difficult time clearing the air on less top-of-mind messages such as the future of LotusScript. Its big Java push certainly has left LotusScript a bit in the dust. Does LotusScript have a future? This is an often-asked question these days. It is also among many questions addressed in last week's SearchDomino.com Expert Webcast featuring Dave Hatter on LotusScript 101. Should you use LotusScript? Of course! It is very useful. Where and how to use it, however, is important, and that too is covered in Dave's Webcast, which is now available here on-demand.
At SearchDomino.com we continue to cover the gamut of languages that can be used by Notes Domino developers and administrators. Formula is one of them. Lotus became an avatar of personal computing based on useful macros that non-programmers could use to gain power over their data, and that approach was carried forward in Formula. Many enhancements in Domino 6 were about bringing the Formula language up to date. Domino got a rewrite to support list manipulation and finally, looping. There is
likely less new about Formula in upcoming Lotus Notes/Domino 7.0 than there is about other language solutions. Look in coming weeks to our site for a Formula Learning Guide created by SearchDomino.com Assistant Editor Beth Rosenberg. In the meantime, visit our Formula Tips page for recent advice on using this handy tool.
Another option for the Lotus developer is Java. This is an option not without controversy. But the extent of Java interest in the Lotus community may be on the rise. Our recent site poll indicates that 36 percent of SearchDomino.com poll responders already have added some J2EE abilities to their skill sets; that 30 percent hope to add some J2EE abilities to their skill sets this year; and that another
17 percent hope to add many more J2EE abilities to their skill sets soon. Both Java and LotusScript will be much-covered topics at the upcoming LotusSphere 2005 event in Orlando, Fla. In the meantime, visit our Java vs. LotusScript opinion page, which brings together the comments of SearchDomino experts queried on that question in 2004.
Regards,
Jack Vaughan
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Top 10 expert responses of 2004
[Beth Rosenberg, Assistant Editor]
When you need Lotus Notes Domino advice, SearchDomino's Ask The Expert section is the place to turn. We've gathered the most popular expert responses to questions submitted by our members in 2004 and listed them all right here.
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