When talking about all the capabilities and the cool stuff that comes with workloads on z/OS, it can be hard to see first hand how things work. Nowadays the IBM Z platform is capable of running applications from many languages. This includes anything from assembler to open source languages like Golang... but with the benefits of running on IBM Z hardware! Is there a way to play with the latest offerings for z/OS?
The answer is simple. IBM provides a free-of-charge trial platform where you get your own space on an actual mainframe and try varying technologies out for yourself. On the IBM software trial website, it’s really a matter clicking and registering to request access. Within minutes you will receive your credentials and three days to access your own mainframe environment. Nothing else is needed but your favorite browser. The three days are rolling calendar days which include bank holidays and weekends in the daily count. The IBM trial website offers a wide variety of trials to explore including the Watson AI services and a realtime CICS transaction server making use of standard Node.JS packages. I tried the CICS transaction server since I was curious about how a Java-based front-end handles CICS transactions and vice versa. Since all the packages are predefined, it was literally a matter of minutes to have my own e-commerce platform deployed in CICS. A complete online web shop powered by z/OS! The cool thing is that all packages are editable, so you are free to modify the code to any specific desire. By playing around with the trial environment, I easily learned some basics about what z/OS, CICS and Java can do. Additionally, I learned what it takes to actually build some applications first hand.
The trials are designed to give users a chance to explore in a short period of time. This makes it perfect to feed your curiosity whenever it fits your schedule. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and get your own playground today!
Useful Links:
IBM Z Software Trials: https://www.ibm.com/it-infrastructure/z/resources/trial
CICS Developer Center: https://developer.ibm.com/cics/