Forte Migration Automation

Forte and Java/.NET platforms are very similar in nature. They are both object-oriented and have interpretive runtime environment. The basic features including variables, data types, operators and control flow are similar in both languages. They both provide support for object-oriented concepts like inheritance, encapsulation and polymorphism. It is these similarities that provide an opportunity to perform automated migration of Forte to Java or .NET platform.

The main reasons to automate Forte migration are:

• Cost effective: A translation tool achieves in minutes what a team of programmers would take weeks, months or even years.
• Business knowledge: If application documentation is not current with the code (as is the typical case), then it is necessary to derive the business logic from the code or redo the analysis phase. This is time-consuming and error-prone. A translation tool accurately translates Forte code while preserving business rules.
• Parallel development: Most Forte projects have taken months and years to develop. If the translation were done manually, then it too would take approximately the same amount of time. During this time, development of new functionality has to stop. If any new development or bug fixes are made, they have to be applied in two places. A translation tool provides repeatable migration: thus the actual translation of domain logic can be deferred - thereby reducing this parallel run to a few days.
• Reliable and accurate: A translation tool always generates the same code. This eliminates programming and typographical errors that may be introduced by manual translation.
• Timely: A translation tool takes a predictable (and very low) amount of time to translate TOOL code to Java or C#.
• Standardized: A translation tool generates standardized code.