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Ask HN: Thoughts on 4GL Code Generators?

1 points by j-b ↗ HN
I'm currently working on a large scale software project using a 4th generation programming language (LANSA RDMLX). I'm wondering who out there has experience using this type of 4GL or code generators and what was their experience?

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bdfh42
I thought all of these died out in the 80's when most were born. I had a boss at the time who thought that one of these would prove effective - at least in reducing the development burden on the Department. Those that I tried all proved fantastic when applied to tasks very similar to those shown in the demos but quickly proved more complex than standard programming (using a 3GL) when applied to anything but the most trivial task.

A bit like report writers - marginally quicker than hand coding for straightforward reports but wildly complicated when things got tougher or the users asked for 'just one more feature'.