Michael Vallière, a 28-year-old full-stack developer at Proginov, uses Progress OpenEdge to build complex applications.
Proginov, an OpenEdge partner in France with 1,000 customers globally, has three OpenEdge-based applications and over two hundred developers.
Before working at Proginov, Michael had little experience with programming languages, only knowing languages such as Java, HTML, CSS and PHP. This led to some fear of taking on a developer role, but luckily, Proginov helped Michael overcome this by using Progress OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL).
Proginov has a two-week training program on ABL. The first week is spent learning about the tools and instructions for accessing the database. The second week is spent practicing the language while working on small projects to apply what was learned the previous week. After this is completed, they are ready to use ABL to develop applications.
When asked what it was like learning the programming language, Michael said, "OpenEdge is easy to learn and very efficient to code."
Because ABL is easy to learn, essential projects in Proginov can now see the light of day without causing excessive delays and frustrations to daily operations.
Here are the top three things Michael likes about ABL:
- Accessing databases and building windows using the same language.
- The efficiency of accessing the database.
- Instructions are easy to code, read and understand because it is a normal language (SYNTAX), almost like reading in English.
Michael explains that when there are lots of programs that you need to maintain, ABL is best because you can read them faster. ABL also has less code and is easier to sustain.
Because ABL is upwards compatible, it is easy to move from one version to the next, which is a big win for Michael and his team at Proginov. He says developers did not know about any changes because of this compatibility. They can continue working without downtime, which can cause business delays and frustration within the organization and among its customers.
When speaking to another developer, Michael would recommend using Progress OpenEdge ABL. The developer can start quickly and with ease of use.
Michael notes that Progress’ technologies are state-of-the-art, and that ABL is an accessible language that is easy to learn and can be operational instantly.
So, what are the next steps in Michael’s development career? He is now teaching incoming developers the OpenEdge ABL language.
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Jessica Malakian
Jessica Malakian is a product marketing specialist at Progress who focuses primarily on Progress OpenEdge. Jessica is a recent college graduate and is excited to begin her professional journey with Progress. Outside of work, Jessica loves reading and writing.