dong@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Dong-Liang Sheu) (07/27/90)
I wonder if this is the right group to ask the following question. If not, please bear with me. ;-) I suspect that 4GL means 4th Generation Languages but I am not sure at all. What kind of languages are considered 4th generation languages? Examples? C++? Ada? What's 4GL -- if my guess is wrong?
gordon@mead.UUCP (Gordon Edwards) (07/27/90)
In article <37312@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, dong@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Dong-Liang Sheu) writes: |> I wonder if this is the right group to ask the following question. |> If not, please bear with me. ;-) |> |> I suspect that 4GL means 4th Generation Languages but I am not sure at all. |> What kind of languages are considered 4th generation languages? Examples? |> C++? Ada? |> |> What's 4GL -- if my guess is wrong? There was a discussion of this issue in (I think) comp.databases not to long ago. IMHO: A 4GL is normally associated with a DBMS. For example, Sybase, Ingres, Oracle, Unify, Informix (get the picture) all offer 4GL packages (none of which are compatable). They all offer the same type of features, however. These features include, high-level screen/window management and a strong SQL database interface. The idea of the 4GL is not to get tied down with user interfaces, etc., and to develop the application. Sorry this is not a very explicit definition. C++ and Ada are still 3GLs (or maybe 3GL++ :-). -- Gordon Edwards Mead Data Central, Dayton OH mead!gordon@uccba.uc.edu uccba!mead!gordon
davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) (07/28/90)
In article <37312@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> dong@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Dong-Liang Sheu) writes: I wonder if this is the right group to ask the following question. If not, please bear with me. ;-) Interesting place to ask this question (not wrong, just "interesting"). It might more appropriately have been asked in comp.databases. I suspect that 4GL means 4th Generation Languages but I am not sure at all. What kind of languages are considered 4th generation languages? Examples? C++? Ada? Yes, 4GL is 4th Generation Language. C++ and Ada are really just fancied up 3GLs (like C, Pascal, PL/I, etc.), but might approach 4GL status with considerable libraries. What's 4GL -- if my guess is wrong? Nobody really knows ;-). It developed as a marketting hype for new languages on the market around the following progression: 1GL - machine code 2GL - addition of mneumonics (assembler). 3GL - more human readable description of problem (Pascal, C, Fortran). 4GL - describe what is desired, allow computer to decide how. -- =================================================================== David Masterson Consilium, Inc. uunet!cimshop!davidm Mt. View, CA 94043 =================================================================== "If someone thinks they know what I said, then I didn't say it!"