IBM i Global

IBM i 

A space for professionals working with IBM’s integrated OS for Power systems to exchange ideas, ask questions, and share expertise on topics like RPG and COBOL development, application modernization, open source integration, system administration, and business continuity.


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  • 1.  RDi 9.x or VSCode

    Posted yesterday

    Hello IBM i Community, 

    Based on the studies I've seen from Fortra over the last year the VSCode adoption dramatically increase. Therefore I just wanted to discuss, whether VScode with IBM i extensions support (or community support as it has been for a while) or whether RDi 9.9 is your preferred choice? For me I like VS Code and the flexibility it offers in general and then making it easier to adopt new team members or additional languages like Ansible for IBMi.

    Thoughts?  



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    James Cole
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  • 2.  RE: RDi 9.x or VSCode

    Posted yesterday

    Hi James,

    before everything else - the following is my absolute personal opinion - and I don't want to discourage anyone from any tool he/she likes.

    I love RDi - I started with WDSC when it came out - before that I already used Code/400 and LPEX (with calls from the green screen to edit/browse members). 

    So you can see, that I'm slightly biased towards RDi - and I have a hard time, adopting VScode because many things are done completely differently than in RDi. 

    At the moment, RDi does a lot of things better than VScode - especially the IBM i things. Examples:

    • DSPF/PRTF editors are not on par
    • no object table view
    • simultaneously connecting to two systems seems impossible
    • no SEU/LPEX line commands (C/M/B/A) - call me old-school, but those commands are very handy sometimes 
    • ...

    But I also think, that at this point it's too late - RDi will go the way of the Dodo and sooner or later it will not be a viable option anymore. 

    It starts with cost - no one who wants to learn IBM i is willing to shell out that amount on money, so they start using VScode - and that's it. 

    A lot of companies are also thinking about it - saving around 350$ per developer per year seams not a lot - but it's not nothing.

    And the VScode based IBM Project Bob IDE will accelerate this process even more - if I'm using Bob for all AI related processes, why should I use RDi for the rest - it doesn't make sense. 

    We're evaluating VScode right now - waiting for our CMS vendor to release a VScode extension - and prepare to switch to VScode later in 2026.

    Kind regards,

    Daniel



    ------------------------------
    Daniel Gross
    #IBMChampion
    Senior Core Developer, Geis Group
    Pegnitz, Germany
    https://blog.qpgmr.de/
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: RDi 9.x or VSCode

    Posted 9 hours ago

    Hi Daniel,

    Thanks for your feedback. I agree where you coming from and this is my personal opinion too. I know people still using PDM, because they just find it quick, easy and when projects are time critical it's their go too. However, on the other hand I know some people find RDi heavy to use as it's built on eclipse and is not always the latest because it needs verification, which i understand. Like you say more and more vendors are providing VSCode extensions, which seems to be where the market IBMi market seems to be following and with adoption of git based source controls etc, it's the natural progression (fortunately or unfortunately). 

    I think it's the same with IBM RAD for Java developers, where there seems to be a shift to moving away. 

    I think it's a difficult one, because they all have their pros and cons. I've also used RDi and appreciate the great features that it offers like you say. At the opposite end I've seen some move from VSCode to RDi because of 3rd party vendor support at the time. They saw lots of "cool" features in RDi, but there roadmap long term is VSCode. I think had they not come from VSCode they would have been happy with RDi.

    But as you say and I agree that I think Project Bob will be the game changer. therefore, for me spending and investing the time means you'll be able to use Project Bob quickly without having to learn a brand new IDE at the same time.

    Thanks again and this is the reason for the discussion - maybe now with the IBM i extensions, it's a new feature idea?



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    James Cole
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    Original Message


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