| What is PRO-IV ? |   |
| When we are asked "What is
PRO-IV" we answer that "PRO-IV is a highly productive language for developing
business applications which are transportable across a wide variety of computers".
Calling PRO-IV a fourth generation language usually results in a wry smile at least! The
hype of the FOURTH GENERATION LANGUAGE over the last few years has led to a cynical
reaction on the part of the hardened I.T. professional. The products which have been sold
have often been suitable for small demonstration projects only, required vast amounts of
computer resource, been tied to a specific architecture or esoteric database, or lacked
the power and flexibility to build a whole application without resorting to traditional
languages like COBOL. PRO-IV is a fourth generation language for building real systems! ...and it has been proven in practice! Right from the start, PRO-IV enables I.T. professionals to develop applications without traditional programming, code generation, batch compilation, inefficient interpreters or the need to build a separate support environment for each application. Users don't need to use or have expertise in such computer languages as COBOL, FORTRAN, and BASIC since PRO-IV allows real production systems to be developed without any recourse to third generation languages! Additionally, developers are shielded from the technicalities of the operating system, allowing them to concentrate on the creation of the application solution. They can move between different machine environments with minimal re-training, and the solutions they build can be utilised on the appropriate hardware. PRO-IV develops menus, screens, reports, updates, system security, and logic operations - all within a single integrated environment. Furthermore, it can do all this in considerably less time than required when using conventional methods. This improvement in productivity in application development (and, more importantly in maintenance) produces real savings that show up on the bottom line. There is a continuing need for the capability to develop business applications quickly and efficiently. And to modify them when the problems change. Today there is a great emphasis on understanding what the user wants, developing the correct solutions and applying them to help meet the business need in a timely fashion. The key to a fourth-generation environment is productivity, in both development and maintenance. Any fourth generation environment must be able to deliver real improvements in productivity, but not at the cost of maintainability nor performance. Fourth generation languages must be measured by the standards of all other computer languages... can they do the job required ? Our experience as a software house shows that PRO-IV can `do the job' in the real world - not just in the demonstration environment ! |
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