ResQSoft Engineer

“Technology has Advanced Ten-Fold, but Programmer Productivity Has Not Kept Pace…”

This was the genesis for ResQSoft® Engineer, a software development suite of tools that greatly enhances programmer productivity.

Programmers write the same programs over and over — for example, programs that let users input information, browse, query, etc. In the past, this was accomplished in languages like COBOL, Visual Basic, Clipper, Visual FoxPro, Powerbuilder, MUMPS, Focus, Mantis, Model 204, and Command Level CICS – among many others.

Today, the preferred languages are Java, JSP, ASP, Angular, Python, HTML5, and XML. Fundamentally, we’re still writing things like the customer maintenance module, the patient maintenance module, the invoice data entry program… and it still takes about 2 weeks of programmer labor to get one right.

The bottom line: 15 years ago, it took us 2 weeks to write a major module, and today it takes the same amount of time. The programs are prettier today and a lot more complicated — but no increase in productivity has occured – until ResQSoft® Engineer.

Adaptive Reuse

Regular reuse involves taking a generalized piece of software and using it in more than one application. Usually, there is some kind of configuration involved; for example, you might specify that the length of your account numbers is 6 digits. With adaptive reuse, however, there is a defined way to tailor or modify the reusable software to meet your exact requirements — so if you need a 6-digit account number, that’s what the statements in the software “know” to expect.

The ResQSoft® Engineer Solution

Engineer is a suite of tools we use to develop these repetitive kinds of programs very quickly, using adaptive reuse technology and automated source code tailoring and generation. Engineer also has tools for reverse-engineering legacy code, including COBOL, VB, PowerBuilder, MUMPS, MAPPER, Silverstream, Forte, Cold Fusion, Mantis, ASP, and Clipper / xBASE / FoxPro — and the list keeps growing. Applications written in these languages, and many others, that present interface screens and reports to the user can be re-created in Java/JSP/HTML very quickly. As important, the Java/JSP/HTML code created by Engineer is free from required vendor libraries or other “lock-in’s” that make code maintenance difficult, if not impossible. Code created by ResQSoft™ Engineer can even be edited in a common text editor if desired.

Engineer’s reverse-engineering tool is flexible enough to accommodate almost any type of legacy code. This capability is enabled by parsers on the intake side of the tool. New parsers can be created in a matter of a few weeks, allowing Engineer to easily evolve with changing software architectures. On the output side of Engineer, templates govern the target architecture. Orginally, 25 years ago, Engineer produced COBOL. Today, Engineer outputs Java, Angular, Python, HTML5, and .NET C# — and soon, Cloud Native with Kubernetes. Tomorrow, the target architecture could be anything. Architectures change, but the kinds of programs used to conduct business stay the same.

Please read the FAQ for more information.