Hashes and How to Create Them on z/OS
January 10, 2022
Hashes can be really handy. Want to confirm that a file was received intact? Compare sender and receiver hashes. Want to see if a file has been updated recently? Compare hashes generated over time. Want a fast key for a lookup table? Use a hash as the key. But what are hashes, and how can […]
ArticlesHow to Use JSON in Your z/OS Program
July 7, 2021
First created in 2001, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) has become the preferred way of creating structured data. Not limited to JavaScript applications, JSON formats can be found in web requests and responses and NoSQL databases. So, it makes sense that we will want our traditional z/OS programming languages (COBOL, PL/I, Assembler, C and REXX) to […]
ArticlesHow the Software World and Programming Practices Have Evolved
June 3, 2021
Programming, or writing software as it is commonly known today, has been my profession for 51 years, and for fun for 10 years before that. Like most things, it has changed dramatically as I have grown up with it. Starting out in 1960, we had only one manual of about 50 pages, a principles of […]
ArticlesBound to Compile: Skipping the Source Code
May 31, 2021
I like interpretive and scripting languages: The source is the code so you never have to go hunting for the original text version of a program when updating it. But they do run much more slowly than compiled ones. Consequently, some scripting languages, like REXX, can also be compiled in order to speed them up. […]
PodcastsEd Jaffe on SHARE, JES3, FORTRAN and More
January 11, 2021
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and I’m here today with my friend and colleague Ed Jaffe, who is really a mover and shaker in the world of mainframe, really active at SHARE and a major aficionado of JES3 and also of bourbon. Well before giving everything away, Ed, tell us about yourself. How […]
The Many Faces of Application Creation: Part 2
March 16, 2020
This is a continuation of last month’s article, which chronicled application tools and options in context of development projects I’ve worked in and programming alternatives used, including design, coding, and validation. I’ve used various programming facilities, along with their strengths and weaknesses. My experiences start in the early 1970s, and the evolution I’ve experienced spans […]
Podcasts‘Mainframe Mike Myers’ on IBM Z System Programming
February 27, 2020
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Mike Myers, the mainframe Mike Myers, who has been involved with the mainframe basically since the very beginning. Mike, maybe if you could introduce yourself to us and tell us, how did you end up on the mainframe? Mike Myers: Well it's […]
ArticlesThe Many Faces of Application Creation: Part 1
February 20, 2020
While my career has mostly been consulting, marketing, systems programming and management, I’ve also had numerous engagements in application programming and design. A class in COBOL was my first IT experience, and in my MBA program, I learned Fortran and General Purpose Simulation System (GPSS) in Operations Research classes. In 1975, I rewrote a broken […]
ArticlesMarlaina Chirdon on Assembler, IBM Z User Groups and zNextGen
January 2, 2020
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and I'm here today with my friend Marlaina Chirdon who is somebody I've known for quite a while which considering that she is still a relatively new mainframer but we've worked at the same employer. We've had a shared mentor but before I spend too much time introducing […]
ArticlesRay Mullins on Assembler, COBOL and PL/1
October 1, 2019
Reg Harbeck: Hi, this is Reg Harbeck and today I'm here with Ray Mullins who is a friend of mine and fellow mainframer who I've known from SHARE and various other parts of the mainframe ecosystem for quite some time. It turns out we have a lot of common interests, including languages and of course […]