Well… ILE RPG certified programmers are special. But they are dying. Exist. Kaput. Or at least, they will be at the end of 2009!

For some very strange reason, IBM have decided to kill the ILE RPG Programmer certification. As we all know, being an RPG Programmer is a rare skill set nowadays… and it’s becoming rarer. I kind of feel guilty for never standing up and doing the certification.

Then again, as I’m typing that I’m also thinking that I actually dont want a little plaque in my dilbertesque cubicle announcing to the world that I know how to do my job: I have a job therefore I know how to do it.

Would the aforementioned little plaque make me feel loftier than my sans-plaque peers? Maybe, just maybe 😉

I originally found that this certification program was being cancelled over on the Code400 forum, where a self-proclaimed AS400 Programmer asked what to do as the certification program was ending.

My response:

As the IBM AS/400 was retired ten years ago, you guys are not using an AS400! You are using the IBM i operating system on an IBM Power System. If you refer to the computer system that you are programming on, using the right name, and that is the first step towards certification

Remember the RPG IV Developer certification was withdrawn back in 2005, and now IBM announce the ILE RPG certification is being withdrawn so maybe (and this is just a quess) IBM will be announcing some kind of ‘IBM i Developer’ certification… possibly focusing on EGL rather than RPG?

I would love to hear if anyone actually has an inside scoop from Big Blue?

I hate to think that this wonderful language (RPG) is slowly vanishing.

Maybe I do need to quickly get a plaque to make myself feel like I’m part of a lofty, elusive and (sadly) dying breed.

The RPG Coder….