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What is Legacy, and is it a bad thing? The development of ClipX has its roots in an emerging and somewhat twisted notion in the IT world about something everyone calls "legacy". The American Heritage Dictionary defines legacy as "something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past." In the world of information technology, legacy is regarded as:
Typically, legacy applications are database management systems (DBMS) running on mainframes or minicomputers, or on microcomputers in a 16-bit environment. Legacy systems are those which have become (or are deemed) technologically obsolete, and
Is it a bad thing? Only if you believe the myth that a legacy leads to a dead end. It does NOT, and we'll show you why. Remember: "Legacy" is also defined as something of value handed down through time, and that can be a GOOD THING! The Fear of Legacy ~ the MYTH Who fears Legacy? Programmers question their job security as they begin to realize the speed at which their knowledge is becoming less and less valuable in the ever-changing market that tends to leave them behind. IT Professionals - the fear of becoming obsolete equates to an incessant need to "keep up" or continuously upgrade systems, which themselves will become obsolete in a matter of years. Bean Counters don't merely fear Legacy, they HATE it. They're convinced that legacy is a lose-lose proposition where either maintenance costs or conversion costs will ultimately devour the company. The Power of Legacy ~ the FACT The fact is that the current factors defining a system as "legacy" include fully functional systems that have not become obsolete. In fact, "legacy" systems such as Clipper®, Quicksilver®, and Foxpro® continue to maintain databases around the world. These languages only lack the resources to access the Web. In the current eConomy, business to business relations have not tapped into their full potential due to an inability to communicate between databases. The world is a database. The supposed and mythical - inability of businesses to use their existing legacy systems in conjunction with leading edge technology has been driving them needlessly into costly software development cycles, which perpetuates the endless succession of unnecessarily upgraded systems. At intraSys, We're Setting the Record Straight What is xBase, and is it Legacy? Contrary to conventional wisdom, xBase is NOT a legacy application in the accepted and erroneous - sense. But as something of value handed down through time, xBase most certainly IS legacy, and justifiably so. The fact is, xBase is simply a file storage format, and a great one at that, having no dependency on outdated operating systems. The myth is that the xBase file storage format is obsolete because of its association with legacy operating systems and languages. As a result, xBase itself is considered outdated because of an assumed interdependence with outdated systems. Two misconceptions have perpetuated this association: Myth #1: A 16 bit program will not function in a 32 bit operating system. Myth #2: An xBase application cannot function as a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program. Fact: Oh, yes it will, and yes it does! A Valuable Legacy Since 1979, when Ashton-Tate released the dBase® RDBMS, companies around the world have stored their data in the xBase format. The next evolution began when Clipper, Quicksilver, and FoxPro arrived as more robust, full featured compiled languages. This forever changed the database landscape, and for good reason. The benefits of this storage format include:
The fact is, xBase is a living legacy, with the ability to bring a new data explosion to the Internet! |