Progress predicts return of the 4GL

I think 4GLs could make a comeback, Stamen told us. If you look at what salesforce.com has been doing recently with a high productivity development environment and database that you don’t need to know much about, that’s a lot like a 4GL. Likewise, plenty of companies are saying that they do not want to do all their programming in such low-level languages as Java.

When you are doing business process management and you want a new service, what you want is a nice higher-level language, not Java, said Stamen. Not just little add-ons, but something with 2,000 applications partners, something that we know you can build an entire ERP system in if you want, because we know Epicor and QAD have done exactly that.

Stamen pointed to the company’s own 4GL, OpenEdge. He said that while it is true that higher revenue comes from other areas of the Progress business, like its Sonic ESB enterprise service bus, he believes there is still opportunity for growth from its older application development environment OpenEdge.

OpenEdge may be on version 10.1B, but the company insists that it still provides the capability to implement reliable, high performance business applications quickly and with confidence.

[4GLs] have been stagnant because they have not been fashionable, said Stamen. But I think IT comes in cycles. I’m saying that new IT like SaaS and SOA are related, and bringing a whole new generation of applications. What people need again now is high productivity development tools.

Stamen said Progress’s OpenEdge comes with its own embedded database so developers are less likely to have to call on the talents of a database specialist, and end users are unlikely to need a database administrator once they deploy applications built with OpenEdge. For flexibility, OpenEdge DataServers do also provide access to alternative data sources, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and DB2.

Stamen said that a 4GL like OpenEdge may make a comeback thanks also to its ability to work with web services and services-oriented architecture. Specifically, it can integrate with Progress’ SonicMQ and Sonic ESB.

The comments on the claimed power and openness of the Progress OpenEdge came as Stamen explained Progress’s latest strategy of combining several SOA products into a new Enterprise Infrastructure Division: the Sonic ESB, Actional SOA management and governance, and DataXtend data-integration products.

OpenEdge remains in the Application Platform group, but Stamen insisted that that group, and not just the Enterprise Infrastructure Division with its SOA focus, is also capable of growth as IT continues down the SOA path.