title: RPG to Java migration on an IBM iSeries
body: <p>Our company uses an IBM iSeries for a majority of our data processing. All of our internal apps are written in RPG. According to IBM's roadmap, IBM is pushing companies to move to Java/J2EE. We're looking to modernize our internal apps to a more GUI interface. We provide an external web presence by using Asp.Net webs, although perhaps greenfield projects could be Java. One option is to use a screen scraper app while staying on RPG but I think it may be better to slowly go the way of IBM's roadmap and move to Java. Our goal is to migrate to a GUI interface and to be inline with IBM's roadmap.</p>
  
  <p>Have you been involved with an RPG to Java migration, even if only greenfield projects were Java and the brownfield projects remained RPG? </p>
  
  <p>My management is afraid that:</p>
  
  <p>1) updating JRE on workstations, particularly thin clients, could cause an administrative nightmare (Our company uses 80% thin clients and 20% PCs) and </p>
  
  <p>2) Java demands too much overhead of the workstation to run effectively</p>
  
  <p>3) Incompatibility between JRE clients as we update, potentially breaking other apps requiring the JRE.</p>
  
  <p>Can you shed some light on this? Are there any huge benefits? Any huge gotchas? </p>
  
  <p>CLARIFICATION: I am only interested in a migration to Java. What is the difficulty level and do I lose anything when going from RPG to Java? Are the screens very responsive when migrated to Java?</p>