REXX Execution Explained: Explicit, Implicit and Batch
September 4, 2026
New-to-Z systems engineer Stephen Johnston explains the three primary ways to run REXX on z/OS, something that's not immediately obvious to new mainframers
ArticlesISPF for VS Code Users: Editing Multiple Files
August 5, 2026
Systems engineer Stephen Johnston shows how to split your screen and switch between files in ISPF
ArticlesBeyond Legacy: The Modern Language Ecosystem of z/OS
November 10, 2025
For "z/OS and Friends," Joe Gulla catalogs the broad and ever-evolving range of programming languages on z/OS
ArticlesClosing the Mainframe Information Gap Through Education
January 25, 2023
If you’re reading this, you likely don’t need to be told that a mainframe career is very rewarding. The pay is excellent, the opportunity to work with world-class technology is exciting and the profession is filled with supportive people who are passionate about the platform. Dr. Cameron Seay, an adjunct professor at East Carolina University […]
ArticlesHashes 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 […]
How 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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]