Authored by Kevin Bowkett, Bill Alexander, and Rich Larin

IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Z is a generative AI assisted developer tool that accelerates the mainframe application modernization process. The latest release, version 2.3 expands on these capabilities, and in this blog covers the highlights for for Code Explanation.

The integrated development environment (IDE) plays a pivotal role in a developers day-to-day tasks, as it can impact coding efficiency and overall workflow. To strengthen the developer experience for clients using Eclipse-based IDE’s today, watsonx Code Assistant for Z Code Explanation is now supported with IBM Developer for z/OS (IDZ), an Eclipse-based IDE, as well as IBM Explorer for z/OS, in addition to the existing VS Code extension.

Code Explanation for watsonx Code Assistant for Z will help accelerate the mainframe application modernization journey by making it easier for developers to understand code, no matter if they are seasoned or new to the workforce. Code Explanation leverages generative AI to provide natural language explanations of COBOL and JCL. With this Eclipse plug-in, clients will be able to deploy the base software on-premises and Code Explanation as-a-service in the IBM Cloud.

To prompt the LLM and generate explanations, developers simply highlight the code they need to better understand and select from the menu options the level of explanations they want to generate. With watsonx Code Assistant for Z Code Explanation, developers can obtain three levels of explanations of code, depending on the language:

• Simple: A simple summary explanation provides the business purpose and a high-level summary of code function.

• Detailed: A detailed explanation provides the business purpose, the inputs, outputs, and key data records, as well as a detailed functional summary of code function.

• Guided: A guided explanation provides the business purpose and a step-by-step description of the code function.

To facilitate and streamline the documentation process, developers are then able to insert generated explanations as comments or download them to include in documentation.

Watsonx Code Assistant for Z simplifies the developer experience and empowers clients to achieve greater agility, improved developer productivity and increased efficiency. For clients using an Eclipse-based IDE today, the 2.3 release of watsonx Code Assistant for Z further supports developer application modernization initiatives through the new Code Explanation Eclipse plug-in.

For more information on the new release, please review the product documentation.

To learn more about watsonx Code Assistant for Z Code Explanation visit our webpage and schedule a live demo with our experts today.