• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 28, Number 35

  October 12, 2026 Doug Bidwell

  Another week, another bunch of things to ponder about the IBM i platform and get fixed or re-fixed. This is ever the way with systems software, which is constantly changing, and despite the fact that Big Blue is not Meta Platforms and it is not interested in “moving fast and breaking things” sometimes things don’t work right or stop working due to unintended consequences.

  This is life on an Earth with an icing of software on it.

  First up, here is something to look out for: NTP Client job can’t start after applying latest PTF (SJ11498). More information is available …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 28, Number 34

  October 5, 2026 Doug Bidwell

  This week, you have a bunch of things to look at and ponder, as well as patches to Rational Developer for i and a bunch of security bulletins.

  First, there is a Virtual Ethernet Connectivity Advisory for IBM i 7.6 TR2 and IBM i 7.5 TR8. IBM is investigating a network connectivity issue that can affect IBM i 7.6 TR2 and 7.5 TR8 systems using Virtual Ethernet adapter type 268C. Read this link for further details and do so before putting on the latest cume and groups.

  And in the whoops column, there is also a note that Security PTF …

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• Code For i Continues To Grow. Here Is What’s New

  September 21, 2026 Alex Woodie

  Code for i has been the hottest open source project in the IBM i community for several years, and that popularity is not dropping. In fact, the community behind the red hot project continues to improve the VS Code-based development environment, including new functionality that we can expect to see released in the future.

  Code for i is a VS Code plug-in originally created by Liam Allan in 2021 to make Web-based development possible for ILE developers on IBM i. The project has exploded in popularity over the past five years, with nearly 93,000 installs recorded on the Microsoft Marketplace …

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• Welcoming The New IBM i Chief Architect And Other New Top Brass

  August 3, 2026 Alex Woodie

  As you have likely already heard, IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will retired last week after a 41-year IBM career, and was succeeded in that role by Kris Whitney, who previously was the IBM i platform’s chief engineer. But this is just one change among several in IBM i leadership in recent months.

  For the past four years, Will officially had three roles at IBM, including chief architect for IBM i, IBM i chief technology officer, and IBM Distinguished Engineer. The last two titles, which Will gained in 2022, were significant at the time as they denoted Will’s position …

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• PTC Adds Support For VS Code With Implementer 12.7

  June 15, 2026 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that rely on PTC’s Implementer software to manage their RPG development will soon be able to use the tool within the VS Code development environment. The upcoming release of Implementer 12.7 will introduce several other important features as PTC begins the process of modernizing the tool.

  Implementer is a well-established change management system targeting the IBM i environment. The software traces its roots to 1987, when four Pansophic (creators of the PRMS ERP system now owned by Infor) employees founded Silvon Software in Chicago. One of their first products was a tool to manage source code …

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• Midrange Dynamics Sees Solid Git Adoption On IBM i

  June 1, 2026 Alex Woodie

  The arrival of AI tools to the IBM i community is helping to drive Git adoption, according to Michael Morgan, the chief executive officer of Midrange Dynamics, a provider of application management software for IBM i. But even without the AI push, the IBM i community is moving solidly toward modern development techniques and tools, Morgan said in an interview.

  “We’re seeing the management expectations that shops use Git as the bigger driver for our customers versus AI,” Morgan told IT Jungle. “AI is a smaller driver of those wanting to get to Git. Even without AI, the movement …

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• Eradani Touts Native Git Connection As AI Tools Spread

  May 4, 2026 Alex Woodie

  Thanks to AI tools like Bob and Claude, IBM i shops are changing how they develop code. AI tools can crank out RPG much faster, but the quality is inherently suspect, which makes having a solid change management life cycle very important. It’s the perfect setup for the folks at Eradani, who say their IBM i change management tool’s native integration with Git provides the right capabilities at the right time.

  What makes Eradani’s approach to supporting Git with its Eradani DevOps offering is the lack of compromise. Instead of splicing Git support into an existing change management product, …

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• Spring IBM i Tech Refreshes Will Come A Bit Later This Year

  April 13, 2026 Alex Woodie

  IBM is working on a new Technology Refresh, as it traditionally does this time of year. But the spring TR announcement will not be made before the POWERUp conference takes place at the end of the month, IT Jungle has learned. Instead, the company will be holding off on the spring TR so that it aligns with a broader Power announcement.

  IBM i shops have been conditioned to expect two TRs every year, one in the spring (usually April) and another in the fall (usually October). The spring TR is usually timed to occur before COMMON holds its annual POWERUp …

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• Here Come The AI-Based Code Modernization Offerings

  April 6, 2026 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that are stuck with old code but don’t have the manpower to modernize it themselves are now considering the use of AI to handle much work. This new era of AI-assisted application modernization that we are now entering has the potential to be a boon for understaffed IBM i shops, but it raises new questions and concerns that IBM i professionals should keep in mind.

  The capability of AI to understand, document, and generate computer code has increased significantly over the past year. Thanks to fundamental improvements in large language models (LLMs), we’re now at the point …

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• After A Few Short Years, VS Code Passes Rational Developer for i

  February 23, 2026 Alex Woodie

  It has finally happened: Visual Studio Code has passed Rational Developer for i in usage, according to the 2026 version of Fortra’s IBM i Marketplace Survey. The survey also shows lower adoption of greenscreen ADTS and increased use of DevOps tools, demonstrating some positive trends in IBM i application development.

  It’s been barely two years since Fortra started asking IBM i customers about their use of Visual Studio Code, the free, Web-based integrated development environment (IDE) originally developed by Microsoft and set free as an open source project in November 2015. The 2024 survey (which was conducted in late 2023) …

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