Last month, IBM announced IBM z17, a next-generation mainframe powered by a robust AI infrastructure. By harnessing AI, IBM is transforming the mainframe experience, driving productivity gains for developers, operators and business users. To fully exploit the innovations of new mainframe technology like z17 requires software and compilers to be at current versions. For example, getting to the latest version of PL/I, Enterprise PL/I 6.2, also announced last month, is necessary to exploit all the z17 innovations available.
Enterprise PL/I 6.2 fully supports the IBM z17 architecture to optimize application performance, and provides new features to help clients modernize their business-critical applications to propel forward with their digital transformation plans. This is especially important in today’s fast-paced business environment, where speed and agility are essential for staying ahead of the competition. By using the new ARCH(15) option, developers are able to generate application code that’s optimized for the z17 hardware architecture without requiring any source code changes.
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.2 reduces CPU usage on average up to 12% on IBM z17 over the same applications originally optimized by IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.1 running on IBM z16.
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.2 reduces CPU usage on average up to 35% on IBM z17 over the same applications originally optimized by IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 5.3 running on IBM z16.
But that’s not all. The new release also includes other features that are designed to help developers boost performance and simplify development.
For example, the use of vector instructions to inline both hex and base64 encoding/decoding is a major performance enhancement. This means that developers can write code that results in faster processing times and lower costs.
The introduction of 16-byte integer support is also a significant development. This allows developers to handle larger amounts of data and perform more complex calculations with ease, which is essential in today’s big data world. And with the new built-in functions that simplify date-time calculations, developers can reduce the risk of errors.
But what about usability? The new release includes several usability enhancements, such as improved compiler warnings for code that might cause storage problems. This means that developers can avoid common pitfalls and write code resulting in fewer errors and lower maintenance costs.
All of these features and enhancements are designed to help developers create efficient, reliable and agile applications that meet business needs.
To learn more, check out the official announcement letters: IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS and IBM Enterprise PL/I VUE for z/OS
Stay tuned to get PL/I from Shopz starting June 13, 2025 and for any questions, please reach out to your IBM representative.
With this latest release, IBM reaffirms its long-standing commitment to PL/I on z/OS, built with over 60 years of expertise.
Disclaimer: The performance improvements are based on internal IBM lab measurements. All benchmarks compiled with IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.2 used the ARCH(15) OPT(3) options. All benchmarks compiled with IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.1 used the ARCH(14) OPT(3) options. All benchmarks compiled with IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 5.3 used the ARCH(13) OPT(3) options. Performance results for specific applications will vary, depending on the source code, the compiler options specified, and other factors.