RPG, or Report Program Generator, first appeared in 1959 and began as a tool for producing reports. Don’t be fooled by the old-fashioned name - RPG has undergone significant evolution and today serves as a powerful language for business applications on IBM’s midrange platforms, particularly IBM i.

With the introduction of ILE (Integrated Language Environment) and RPG IV, the language gained modern features such as modular programming, improved debugging, and free-format syntax. That means you can write code that is more readable and maintainable, keeping RPG relevant in contemporary development environments.

Although RPG may not top popularity charts, it has a loyal user base and remains widely used in many companies to handle critical business processes. If you work with IBM i systems or want to understand legacy business applications, it’s definitely worth getting acquainted with RPG.