Modern Mainframe Development: COBOL, Databases and Next-Generation Approaches

Cover
Copyright
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
	What’s Covered
	Who Is This Book For?
	The Approach to This Book
	Conventions Used in This Book
	Using Code Examples
	O’Reilly Online Learning
	How to Contact Us
	Acknowledgments
Part I. Fundamentals of the Mainframe
	Chapter 1. Why Be a Mainframe Developer?
		Fear of Disruption
		Software Is Eating the World
		COVID-19
		Government Modernization
		Future of Mainframe Development
		Career Opportunities
		Conclusion
	Chapter 2. World of the Mainframe
		What Does “Mainframe” Mean Anyway?
		A Brief History
			What Are Punch Cards?
			Growth of the Mainframe
			Mainframe Innovation
			The Terminal
		Mainframe Challenges
		Why Have a Mainframe?
		The OS
			z/VSE
			z/TPF
			z/VM
			Linux
			KVM
		Processor Architecture
		LPAR
		Disks
		Batch and Online Transaction Processing
		Mainframe Trends
		The Mainframe “Shop”
		Conclusion
	Chapter 3. The Development Environment
		Accessing a Mainframe
			TSO
			ISPF
		Datasets
		Main Types of Datasets
			Sequential File
			Partitioned Dataset
			Virtual Storage Access Method
		Catalogs
		ISPF and Datasets
		Creating a File with ISPF
		System Display and Search Facility
		Job Control Language
		Unix System Services
		Mainframe Tools
		Modern IDEs
			IBM Developer for z/OS
			BMC Compuware Topaz Workbench
			Che4z
			Visual Studio Code
			Standardizing on Visual Studio
		Simple IDEs
		Web-Based Editors
		Development Process
		Conclusion
	Chapter 4. The COBOL Language
		COBOL’s Background, in Brief
		COBOL Versions
		Why Use COBOL?
		COBOL Program Structure: Columns
		COBOL Program Structure: Divisions
			IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
			ENVIRONMENT DIVISION
			DATA DIVISION
			PROCEDURE DIVISION
		Conclusion
	Chapter 5. File Handling
		Records and Files
		Sequential File
		File Errors
		WRITE to a File
		JCL for File-Handling Programs
		Inventory Update Program
		File with Multiple Records
		Variable-Length Records
		Indexed Files
		Updating an Indexed File
		VSAM Files
		Conclusion
	Chapter 6. COBOL Tables and Reports
		Introduction to Tables
		Tables and Reading Files
		Multilevel Tables
		Indexes
		Searching a Table
		Binary Search
		Reports
			The PROCEDURE DIVISION for Reports
			Testing a Report
		Reporting Tools
		Working with Characters and Strings
			STRING
			UNSTRING
			INSPECT
		Conclusion
	Chapter 7. Other Languages and Programming Techniques
		What Language to Use?
		Assembler Language
			Memory
			Registers
			Base Displacement Addressing
			Sample Assembler Language Code
		Java
		C and C++
		PL/I
		CLIST and REXX
			REXX Variables
			REXX Comparisons
			Control Structures
			Calling Functions
			Arrays
		Object-Oriented COBOL
		Programming Techniques
			Copy Member
			Subprograms
		Conclusion
	Chapter 8. Databases and Transaction Managers
		Information Management System
			IMS Database Manager
			IMS Transaction Manager
			IMS Services and Tools
			IMS Programming Language
		Db2 and the Relational Database
			Benefits of Relational Databases
			Using Db2
			Structured Query Language
			Joins
			Database Administrator
			Application Development with Db2
			Db2 Ecosystem
		Customer Information Control System
			Working with the CICS Platform
			Programming in CICS
		Conclusion
Part II. Modern Topics
	Chapter 9. DevOps
		Advantages of DevOps
		Waterfall Method Model
		Agile Method
			Scrum
			Kanban
			Lean
			Agile:  It’s Not All About Speed
		Mainframes and the Challenges for DevOps
		DevOps Best Practices
		Configuration Management
		Issues with DevOps
		Metrics
		Mainframe DevOps Tooling
			Automation
			CI/CD
			Zowe
			BMC Jenkins Plug-ins
			Zigi
		Conclusion
	Chapter 10. Artificial Intelligence
		What Is AI?
		Why Use AI?
		Downsides of AI
		Machine Learning
			Binary Classification
			Multiclass Classification
			Multilabel Classification
			Imbalanced Classification
		Types of Machine Learning
			Supervised Learning
			Unsupervised Learning
			Reinforcement Learning
		Deep Learning
		Data
			Big Data
			Data Management
			Log Data
			Data Wrangling
		The AI Process
		Accuracy
		An AI Demo
		AI on Z
		AIOps
		Conclusion
	Chapter 11. Robotic Process Automation, and Low-Code and No-Code Systems
		What Is RPA?
		The Disadvantages of RPA
		Macros, Scripts, and APIs
		Types of RPA
		Process Methodologies
		RPA Roles
		Evaluating RPA Software
		Process Mining
		How to Create a Bot
			Creating a UiPath Bot
			Creating a Bot for the Mainframe
		RPA Issues with Mainframes
		Low-Code and No-Code Systems
		Conclusion
	Chapter 12. Mainframe Modernization Strategies
		Why Modernize?
		Using a Hybrid Cloud
		Setting Goals
			Encapsulating
			Rehosting or Replatforming
			Refactoring or Rearchitecting
			Replacing or Rebuilding
		Working with the Hyperscalers
			Amazon Web Services
			Microsoft
			Google Cloud
		Automation Tools
			Heirloom Computing
			EvolveWare
			Advanced’s Automated COBOL Refactoring
			Astadia
			Data Migration
		Conclusion
	Chapter 13. The Future
		Innovation of the Mainframe
		Enterprise Integration
		The Hybrid Model
		Mainframe as a Service
		Conclusion
Additional Resources
Glossary
Index
About the Author
Colophon