TFH Volume: 32 Issue: 43 Archives

Plotting A Middle Age Career Change To IBM i

June 20, 2022 Alex Woodie

Not many colleges teach the IBM i and RPG anymore, which makes it hard for midrange shops to replenish talent that way. But organizations have another resource they can tap for technical personnel: slightly more experienced individuals who are ready to start a second career. This is the path taken by Shelly Petty, who recently shared her story at the POWERUp 2022 conference in New Orleans.

Petty spent 12 years working in the banking field before making her career change to IBM i. Her previous job was a high-stress position that required her to handle securities on behalf of corporate …
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What Is Code Transformation Even?

June 20, 2022 Miranda VanHorn

Transformation is a complex concept. It can mean many different things depending on whom you are asking. It could be UI transformation, where an improvement in the user interface provides all end-users a memorable, personalized, and deeply engaging experience.

It could also refer to code transformation, which improves the performance of applications using a new language or architecture, or it could be a total digital transformation where the system is entirely modernized for business success.

A transformation could also mean changing a physical process of using pen and paper (e.g., documentation or signing of contracts) into a systematic approach using …
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Guru: The CALL I’ve Been Waiting For

June 20, 2022 Ted Holt

Christmas came to my house early this year. May 3, to be exact. Boy! Was Santa Claus good to me! IBM gave me two presents! The first was a CL enhancement that I had desired for years. The second was an improvement that, to my delight, almost obsoletes a utility I wrote years ago. Both have to do with the CL CALL command.

CALL is arguably the most used and most important command in CL, yet for all these years it has remained untouched. I’m glad that IBM has seen fit to devote time and resources to the enhancement of …
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A Frank Solstice

June 20, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

When you are born in Minnesota, the seasons matter. Unfortunately, as Frank Soltis, the former chief architect of the AS/400 system and the creator of the single-level storage architecture of the System/38 and the AS/400 that is still a marvel, once quipped to us: “There are only two seasons in Minnesota: Winter, and Getting Ready For Winter.”

And so, you have two options: Play hockey when you aren’t farming, or design excellent computer systems. That’s how supercomputer genius Seymour Cray did it from nearby Wisconsin.

The AS/400 for which this publication was founded 33 years ago was born on the …
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The Inevitable Wave Of Power9 Withdrawals Begins

June 20, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan

With the entry and midrange Power10 servers coming in a few weeks, and with the supply chains for chip, board, and system manufacturing having more kinks than a Slinky left in the hands of a group of seven-year-olds for several days, it is only natural for Big Blue to focus on lining up all of the parts needed for its Power10 iron and to stop worrying so much about Power9 features and peripherals. Even though it will be selling Power9 iron for quite some time and supporting it for a very long time.

And that is exactly what will be …
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Plotting A Middle Age Career Change To IBM i

What Is Code Transformation Even?

Guru: The CALL I’ve Been Waiting For

A Frank Solstice

The Inevitable Wave Of Power9 Withdrawals Begins

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