By Joy Spohn IBM zDevOps Manager
With the beginning of fall the kids are back to school, the temperature is changing and it’s time to check on our career education goals. In the tech industry, it’s mandatory to keep learning. And it’s a fact that if we write down our goals, we are much more likely to be successful.
As a mainframe application developer, we want you to be successful, so here are some IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz) education opportunities you should definitely take advantage of to build your knowledge. All are no-charge so no credit card required!
1. Explore the new ADFz trial! The IBM Application Delivery Foundation for z/OS (ADFz) trial has been updated to showcase IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz). It is a quick and easy way to learn about IDz and explore the product. It gives the user access to IDz with a guided instructions through three scenarios. The user will get a full experience to browse and modify COBOL code, debug a COBOL application, and assess runtime execution percentage of COBOL programs. You can follow any or all the scenarios or just explore! This 3-day hosted trial is easy to use and no installation required. If time runs out in 3 days, no worries, just register to do it again!
In the trial, each scenario highlights a step-by-step process. The first scenario teaches how to research and analyze code, make changes to a program, and document the changes you make. The second scenario shows setting up test data by editing a Db2Ò for z/OS table, make and track changes to a COBOL program, build a COBOL program to prepare for debugging and then debug a COBOL program. The third illustrates how to use IDz to collect code coverage results, with different input files to understand how changes to the input files impact code coverage, compare code coverage results to see changes represented by statistics, export code coverage results, and so much more! The detailed steps provide real life scenarios to enhance the developer experience. Take the trial to sharpen IDz skills, get introduced to IDz 16.0 (remember IDz 15.0.x goes out-of-support on April 30, 2024) and it’s a great introduction for new team members! Trial
2. Have more time on your hands? Take the IDz self-paced online basics course. This class is organized in 9 modules to cover IDz in more depth. Again, there is no requirement for access or a license to an IDz image, it uses the ADFz trial! Upon completion of the class, the student can earn a digital learning badge. The duration of the course is approximately 6 hours. IDz self-paced online basics course
3. Still quenching for more knowledge! Sign up today for remote instructor-led training! The IDz training courses are multiple hour-long hands-on-workshop modules that are delivered through interactive, instructor-led web-conferences. This is an effective venue utilizing open Q&A and remote-mentoring for more interactive learning environment. It is recommended that you proceed through the courses sequentially from Module-1 thru Module-9 for the core curriculum. There is also an IDz Admin series. Check out the schedule and plan to attend. Remote instructor-led training
Now that you have an established your education to-do list, it’s time to get started. We look forward to having you in class!