Since the 1970s I have engaged in several mainframe coding and leadership positions from Programmer Analyst to Senior IT Specialist.. performing 'a lot of' hands-on analysis and procedural tasks. After couple of years of Y2k consulting, I decided to transfer to course instruction... within IBM Global Services.
Mainframe IBM Z is a great platform for tools, software and operational environment interactions.... even documentation is online, hints and JCL error messages are helpful. The more you practice the clearer the environment becomes... My favorite 'panic moment' as a COBOL student was spelling ENVIRONMENT incorrect and my entire program errored with many messages... The clue is that it is all connected: lines of code, dataset names, different states of dataset and more.
Hint: as you learn and build on the mainframe ... it is like making a cake (which I did many evenings..) ... ingredients: code, data, special indicators, processing logic and most important DOCUMENTATION (when in doubt Look-it-up)... Start step by step, code one section, one tool at a time, compile often *my hint section by section.
Last point (I am long winded and mentor)... Think through your logic from the beginning to end. Start with just READ-A-Record and WRITE-A-Record... then EDITs... Database...etc etc etc
P.S. That first MQ Series (now IBM MQ) was clearly mark COBOL... the course participants were JAVA programmers... the good news: same logic and different code... whew!
This is a fantastic training with assigned mentors... do not be shy: questions, tips, and laughs!
YOU ARE READY and IBM is with ya'll!
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Lezlie Browder
Chief Solutions Architect
Eugene Alexander Research & Results
Chicago
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