Genii Weblog
LotusScript to live on for a long time
Thu 17 Jun 2004, 02:42 PM
Tweetby Ben Langhinrichs
As many of you may have heard, Bob Wong, Director of Lotus Channel Sales, has come out publicly saying there will be a Notes/Domino 9, and it has been confirmed by others inside IBM. He also said, and it has also been confirmed, that this extends the projected life span of Notes/Domino through 2012/2013. What some of you may not have heard is that Jeff Eisen, Lotus Notes Technical Lead, has stated quite clearly that LotusScript and formula language will be supported all the way through Notes/Domino 9.
We realize, of course, that there are hundreds of thousands of Notes/Domino applications out there using LotusScript, Formula language, @Commands, agents, etc. These applications help run your businesses and we take that very seriously. We have no intention of orphaning these applications in ND7, 8, 9, or ever.So, those who worry that their LotusScript skills maye be becoming obsolete, fear not! While there are never any real guarantees in the computer world, and while you would be wise to work on other skills as well, there is every reason to think that you can write, and your company or customers use, LotusScript agents for years to come.
Amended to correct Bob Wong's title. Also, see Ed Brill's comment that Ambuj Goyal first mentioned ND9 publicly.
Copyright © 2004 Genii Software Ltd.
What has been said:
172.1. Ed Brill (06/17/2004 12:18 PM)
Just as a point of clarity, Ambuj himself mentioned Notes 9 first, at the German Notes Users Group last month. And Bob Wong is Director of Lotus Channel Sales, though I'm sure he likes his new title ;)
172.2. Ben Langhinrichs (06/17/2004 02:07 PM)
Duly noted and corrected. Thanks!
172.3. Julian Robichaux (06/17/2004 07:14 PM)
I was having a "LotusScript versus Java" discussion the other day, and it occurred to me that one of the things I really like about LotusScript is that you can get close to actually knowing what all the functions and classes are and what they mean.
There will always be a small percentage of functionality that you never use and will have to look up (like anything to do with double-byte vertical formatted East Elbonian language support or something), but most of it can be stored right in your brain for use at a moment's notice.
Java, on the other hand, has like 18,000 base classes, many of which you've never seen or had to use before. It's a nice language, but it's huge. By the time I've looked up the methods and usage and factories for the classes I'll have to use in a Java agent, I could have written and debugged a LotusScript agent, and had time to make a fresh pot of coffee.
Good to hear that LotusScript is hanging around. Long live LotusScript.
- Julian