We announced our latest solution - Profound.js - a few months back. Profound.js is a completely new way to modernize your legacy IBM i applications in to modern Node.js code. This is beneficial for a lot of reasons, including helping businesses find new development talent and avoiding costly migration projects. 

But for this blog, I wanted to focus on one feature of Profound.js- the conversion service - and answer some common questions I've received. 

1) How does the conversion service work? 

Profound Logic is offering a service where we will handle the conversion of RPG-to-Node.js for you, using an automated system that takes a fraction of the time re-writing to another language would take. Because of the iterative, agile nature of Profound.js, we will zero in on the code you need to convert now, and can come back to convert additional code later.

2) It is true that other translation tools rarely produce clean code? 

The Profound.js conversion technology is different than other conversion tools. It produces code that is cleaner than the original RPG, and generally will even produce less lines of code than there were originally.

3) How is the Profound.js conversion service better than other conversion offerings?

Our conversion service is superior in many ways. First, the conversion to Node.js modularizes your code, which means less code needs to be written, and you can reuse that code, eliminating the need to retype it many times and saving time.

Additionally, Profound.js makes programs much easier to maintain by converting RPG subroutines with global scope into functions with local scope, and making code more verbose and self-explanatory.

Also, converting your legacy RPG code to Node.js makes it more SOA accessible, because your programs can be utilized as REST services. You will also be able to easily connect previously "un-connectable" IBM i programs to Java, PHP, .NET, or third party packaged applications via Web Services.

And finally, Profound.js conversion automatically removes dead code, which is very common in programs that have accumulated unused routines or definitions over time. in the program that are no longer utilized). Normally, without a lengthy manual analysis, you have no way of knowing which sections of the code are used and which ones are not. The Profound.js conversion automatically finds those sections and eliminates them, giving you less lines of code to work with and therefore simplifying future development.

4) How do I get started?

We have a waiting list for these engagements, and our team will be able to walk you through that process.

And as always, you can contact us with any questions you have, if I didn't answer them here.

Jordan Antonoff is the Director of Sales and Business Development at Profound Logic. Jordan helps Profound Logic’s growing customer base find the right IBM i modernization solution and leads partner development efforts worldwide.