Kristine Neely's Newbie Blog

Father of the Bride

kharper — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:53:00 GMT

As some of you may know, I was recently married on June 7^th and I’m now Mrs. Neely. Leave it to a mainframer to get married on 6-7-8 huh?

Since then, after enjoying a fabulous honeymoon, I’ve gotten some cute comments that have made me think about where I am today. Someone said to me, “so when’s the 3^rd generation of mainframe Assembler developers going to pop out?” J As the daughter of the smartest mainframer I know, this question, apart from being somewhat cheeky, made me smile. My dad, Tom Harper, had no intentions to breed me as another mainframer yet here I am, wanting to learn everything I can from him to become a better developer. We just celebrated a belated Father’s Day, so what an appropriate blog right?

I’ve been thinking about some of the things I’ve learned that I really use everyday on the job as an Assembler software developer - some of the things my father taught me that are not necessarily underlined in any textbooks or taught in the chapters of lesson plans. I wanted to share some of these with you to hopefully pass on some valuable and expedient Father of the Bride tips.

Getting my program to assemble clean is only 10% of the work.

I remember when I first started writing code and modules, I would struggle to get the code written. Then I would struggle more to get the module to assemble clean. I would shout “Dad, my program ran and it worked!” He would shrewdly reply “No, I think you mean it assembled cleanly.” And so then the real work would begin to actually run and test the program. The real work to find the exact HLASM instruction I needed to accomplish what I meant to do; the precise instruction sequence to make the code most efficient; or the perfect combination of structured programming macros (SPMs). “Computers only do what you tell them, not what you meant to tell them” my dad would say. But aren’t computers smart? Especially mainframes?!

Using USING is the only way to fully understand how to use USING

I remember the first time I went to Dave Cole’s session on Using USING. I think I was 18 and when the session ended, I really couldn’t tell you a thing about USING except that it was the only HLASM instruction to start with a U. Dave is a great presenter and very knowledgeable, but I just wasn’t ready to be able to grasp the concept. I could have read the IBM manual a hundred times and still not get it. Some things, my dad said, you need to learn by doing. The USING instruction is one of those things in life where “you don’t know how to use it until you use it…but you can’t use it until you know how to use it.” So if you are coding something involving base, displacement, registers and/or symbol references, you’ll probably need a USING. And don’t ask me how to code one up – just try…and XDC! Push the instruction to the limit and make it do the work for you whenever possible – soon you will feel like you are using USING instead of USING using you! J

Maintaining Assembler code libraries is crucial

As a new mainframer, one of the things I’ve learned pretty quickly from my dad is to always maintain your code libraries. The real world, with millions and millions of lines of code, doesn’t work like in college. Having one set of code libraries where you just update your modules whenever you’re working won’t cut it. It will only take one instruction to mess up the entire product by “making just this small little change”…and you’ll see how important it is to keep backups and all sorts of different code versions! Most shops have many libraries set up too: Development à QA à Testing à Production. And in development, each developer has his/her own set. “A product written in Assembler is only successful when all of its modules are operating on the same level.” So true! And not to mention fixes and new product versions must be carefully separated from (yet integrated too!) what already exists. When a library “goes bad”, time is wasted on finding and fixing the problem. You don’t want to be that problem!

Social networking and interaction is actually a good thing

If you know me the way my dad does, you’d know that I’m not in any way a social butterfly. This company would go down in flames if I were in charge of sales! But when it comes to everyday work, I know I’ll progress a lot more each day if I don’t keep all to myself. Being new and working in a hall full of the smartest Assembler developers I know – there is opportunity every day to learn from the best. And if you’re a mainframer, you already know that “the more you learn, the less you know!”, so even on a good day at the office, don’t forget that there’s always something to learn from your peers. And at the SHARE conferences…my first SHARE I didn’t say a word and really didn’t enjoy the evening receptions much (but I tagged along with my dad…18, free drinks and nobody IDing me...what’s a girl to do). Too many people, nobody even twice my age (LOL!) and who would want to have a conversation with a girl who knew almost nothing about mainframes? Well, as it turned out, everyone! Socializing, networking and making new friends – all of this at SHARE and elsewhere has helped enhance my knowledge of Assembler. I’ve met some of my best friends and references by extending myself beyond my company’s network of people. Manuals are great, but nothing beats advice from the people who have been in your shoes!

So keep these things in mind as you go forth and code. Don’t be afraid to try or ask, keep each detail of the product in mind and talk to other mainframe geeks and dads. Or ask me!

I hope one day people will say, “you know, you’re beginning to code a lot like your dad.” Not only is he a great product author and developer, he gave an amazing toast at my wedding - he did much better than Steve Martin in Father of the Bride. I hope to indeed carry on his legacy of fabulous mainframe software development and make an impact on the mainframe world. And who knows, perhaps there will be a third generation mainframer one day. J

Be sure to check out the photo attached to this blog!

“You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. An adorable little girl who looks up to you and adores you in a way you could never have imagined. I remember how her little hand used to fit inside mine. Then comes the day when she wants to get her ears pierced, and wants you to drop her off a block before the movie theater. From that moment on you're in a constant panic. You worry about her meeting the wrong kind of guy, the kind of guy who only wants one thing, and you know exactly what that one thing is, because it's the same thing you wanted when you were their age. Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy.”

NEW zNextGen Website!!!

kharper — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:16:00 GMT

I want to let everyone know that the zNextGen Project has a brand new website! Please visit www.znextgen.org as soon as you can to check us out. You'll be able to sign up, meet the team, get updates on our project and SHARE conferences, and much more!

zNextGen is the project I manage for the bi-annual SHARE conference. The next one is coming up soon - February 24-29, 2008 in Orlando. Be sure to register and check out all the zNextGen sessions and events! Hope to see you there!

Kristine

Conflicting Views on the Future of Mainframe Careers

kharper — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:29:00 GMT

I’ve been hearing some conflicting opinions about the future of mainframe careers. People seem to have different ideas on what the job market will be like in 10-15 years, varying from one extreme to the other.

There are those that believe the mainframe workforce is entirely healthy, and perhaps overly so – that there are plenty of young professionals out there who will be able to handle the workload once the current veterans retire in the next decade. Others feel like this profession is just like any other IT area – people are coming in at the same rate others are leaving. No over-injection of new mainframers and no shortage either. And finally, there are those who expect a shortage of knowledgeable workers will hinder the mainframe industry in the next decade.

Though I am inclined to regard the 3^rd option as most likely, the other 2 possibilities deserve some thought. Are the too many new mainframers coming into this business? Will there be people who have in-depth knowledge of large systems who won’t be able to find stable jobs? Will demand for mainframers diminish as procedures and development become more automated? In short, I don’t think so. My personal experiences in college, my face-to-face conversations with high school students, recent meetings with computer science boards and large corporation leaders, and just looking down the hall here at NEON Enterprise Software, Inc.- these all lead me to fully believe that an over-populated mainframe workforce is highly unlikely.

No surplus, no shortage – this probably seems like a reasonable assessment. But anyone working for a mainframe company right now will probably agree that the average age of their mainframe staff is not getting any younger. What about all those people taking mainframe courses right now that will surely cause an influx of mainframe professionals very soon? Won’t there be enough to steadily replace those who are retiring? Good questions, but I ask you to think about the current mainframe workforce. How many years of experience do you think current mainframers have? Many of them have been working on the mainframe their entire career and have the practical and necessary bits of knowledge I would die for. Where is this indispensable expertise going to transfer to? Books and manuals are great, but nothing compares to what you can learn from working with intelligent mainframe experts. Crucial efforts are being made, but I really believe that the pipe is flushing out faster that it is filling up. It’s like a bad gas leak in your car – you can’t fill it up faster than it’s leaking so you have no choice but to pay to get it repaired. As hard as you may try, you can’t drive your car without essential (high-priced) gas!

So the 3^rd assessment of the mainframe workforce – that there will be a shortage of large systems professionals in the next decade – is what I believe because it’s what I experience and deal with on a daily basis. When I came to work for NEON Enterprise Software, Inc., not only did I significantly reduce the average height of the developers but I also reduced the average age. The situation here is not unlike most ISVs and large corporations that run on the mainframe. I have spoken with companies – banks, retailers, insurance providers, etc. – who all stress the same key point. They need mainframe people now and will need mainframe people in the next 10 years. There is no maybe for these people, there is no go-around - mainframes are key to their business’ success and thus so are mainframers.

How can almost 80% of the world’s business data be securely taken off the mainframe? How can millions of transactions run as efficiently and effectively off the mainframe? Do you want a less than instant response during you next trip to the ATM? Do you want your bank account to be probably secure? Do you want your flight reservations to be unreliable?

So while there are conflicting views about the future of mainframe careers, I truly believe that the current experienced workforce will be tough to replace. There are many articles out there that cover the different mainframe career outlooks. I encourage you to search the web on your own and read them – take them with a grain of salt though. Going out into the mainframe world today will give you a much better perspective on the current circumstances. Check out the staff hallways of ISVs and large mainframe corporations. Call companies that you know are on the mainframe and ask to speak with the youngest mainframe employee. Look up you local colleges and universities to see if any mainframe courses are being offered. …And let me know what you find out!

Also, in the meantime, be sure to check out the upcoming SHARE conference, in Orlando February 23-29. There will be many opportunities to learn more about your mainframe topic of choice and to network with peers and veterans. Register today!

Until next time,

Kristine

Dreadful (er, I mean “pleasantly challenging”) Assembler Instructions

kharper — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:51:00 GMT

As a new Assembler programmer with a couple years under my belt now here at NESI, I’ve recently come across some instructions that have really made me think. In a module I was working on, I needed to use floating point, grande and lots of shift instructions to accomplish a conversion. Now, for all you experienced Assembler addicts out there, I’m sure this doesn’t sound very exciting or challenging. But for me, the combination of these instructions and the precision involved in the math was quite tricky. It was my first in-depth experience coding with floating point and I wouldn’t necessarily use the word “painful”, but it was somewhat agonizing!

The instructions I ended up using were:

PACK, CVBG, CVDG
STD, STG, LD, LG
MDR, DDR, SLLG, SRLG, ALG

Of course, it’s easy to read about them in the manuals and get a pretty good idea on what they do. But to know them well enough to use efficiently and correctly in a program is quite another thing. For me, it was a lot of trial and error, and looking at examples in other modules…plus, it helps to have an office in a hallway filled with the smartest Assembler programmers I know! Once I wrote up a chunk of code that I thought would at least somewhat do what I was trying to accomplish, I would run a test that put me into XDC (not a plug, I really do use and love XDC!). While in XDC, I could see exactly what each instruction was doing and what was going on in all the registers (floating point regs too) – so I could see my number crunching in action. This made it a lot easier to see when/where I was using the incorrect instruction (and once in a while, correct instructions!). Another code change and test, another step closer to coding the correct sequence of instructions I needed.

I don’t want to discourage any new programmers out there because I did come out on top and accomplish the enhancement. And now that I’ve done the dirty work to really learn those instructions, I definitely feel like a more knowledgeable developer (although it might be a case of “the more I learn, the less I know!”).

Here’s wishing all my readers a wonderful and safe holiday season and a happy new year!

Kristine

Make a Difference in the Mainframe World Locally

kharper — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:58:00 GMT

I recently had the opportunity to speak to high school students about the mainframe. At the Houston Community College Career Fair, NEON Enterprise Software, Inc. , IBM and other mainframe companies collaborated to present a morning session that was all about the mainframe. HCC is currently offering a mainframe certificate program. Since IBM was on its way back from an expo, they were able to stop by in Texas and show off a real mainframe to these students. When you don’t know what a mainframe is or how sleek it looks today, this can be a pretty convincing sight to see!

The day was all about talking up the mainframe as a valuable and conceivable career path. I presented on my experiences in school and the road that took me to the mainframe. Others presented on why mainframe are important, why these careers are appealing, and the variety of mainframe careers available. We emphasized how significant mainframes are in the world today and how many companies rely on it. While we realize that not all 300 students would stand up and shout “I want to work on the mainframe!”, I think it was good to expose them to the ideas and opportunities that are available out there.

What I enjoyed most was talking to some of the students after the presentations. At least 20 or so came up to me and were genuinely interested in a career on the mainframe. That may not sound like a whole lot, but if we all can reach out locally and advocate for mainframe careers, we can make a big impact. It was a lot of fun telling them about how cool mainframe stuff is and how much I love being a developer. I even met one kid who said he knew Assembler! 16-bit Assembler…J

Getting involved locally in your area can make a difference in the large scope of all things mainframe. I want to encourage you to reach out to local colleges, universities, and high schools in your area and ask how you can participate and promote the mainframe. Check their websites for upcoming career days, get in touch with career counselors and computer science department heads, offer to present or help coordinate your company’s presence at career events…there are many ways to get involved. I’m telling you, seeing the excitement in just one kid’s face when they really understand the power and grandeur of the mainframe will make your day!

Kristine

SHARE in San Diego Review

kharper — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:28:00 GMT

The 109th SHARE conference was in San Diego last week and I wanted to give you a recap of my experiences there. Despite getting sick almost right when I arrived, I managed to make it through the week! This was the 4th conference for zNextGen (zNG) as an official project and we had a terrific week. Our new Deputy Project Manager Reg Harbeck made an impressive debut! The experience we are gaining and our many supporters are helping us continue to be successful.

As the project manager of the zNextGen, and as a volunteer for the Assembler project, much of my time was spent making sure the week went smoothly for zNextGen and attending the always-impressive Assembler sessions. zNG has been growing steadily since the idea for this project emerged in Boston almost 2 years ago, and now have over 300 members. Our opening session (3100) was very well attended, thanks to our keynote speaker Michael Stack. He gave a terrific presentation and sincerely engaged our audience. It was especially nice to see a lot of new faces in the audience. Our interactive closing session (3101) yielded valuable feedback, which we will use to shape our project for the future. Bob Rogers’ three part session series, z/OS Basics: A z/OS Walking Tour through MVS Concepts and Facilities was an excellent overview of the mainframe and he really kept the audience engaged.

To report on the networking activities of zNextGen at SHARE, we had some lunches and a dinner on Wednesday night. We were most impressed by the overall increased SHARE attendance. We had a lot of new sign-ups and it was fun to meet a lot of new mainframers. Each night at SCIDS (the evening receptions) was extremely busy, exciting and fun! It was good to see zNextGenners networking and enjoying this part of SHARE. Thursday night was especially entertaining, as we enjoyed the new songs by our own Reg Harbeck and continued the paddle waving tradition. The sing-along was very popular and NESI was even mentioned in one of the songs ("ISV-Yay" to the tune of "YMCA") written by Reg! Many thanks to John Eells for hand crafting such an amazing new paddle case for us!

As always, the sessions at SHARE were of the highest caliber. The technical content and real-world scenarios presented were invaluable. Some of my favorites that I was able to attend were:

MVS Program Opening (2403)
Head of the Class: Professors' Perspectives on Mainframe Education (3102) – zNG project continued its professor series focusing on mainframe education. 5 professors from around the country attended this session to discuss their success in starting mainframe programs at their universities. It drew a very large crowd and generated a lot of buzz.
z/VM Basics (9102) - good opportunity to stick my nose into something I am unfamiliar with
DB2 Performace Tuning Roadmap (1308) - NESI's Craig Mullins' session was excellent as to be expected
Space Shuttle Usage of z/OS (8121) - one of the most anticipated and highly attended Assembler sessions, this was a great presentation showing how mainframes and Assembler keep our space systems running safely.
Additions to z/Architecture (8190) - a really interesting session given by one of the authors of the Principles of Operations...this guy really knew his stuff.
Many many more!!! Don't forget all of these proceedings are available on the SHARE website.

My presentation on restructuring Assembler programs went very well (8130: A Live Demo on How to Restructure Your Spaghetti Code). Despite feeling awful, the live demo went on without any glitches. It was good to have audience participation and be convincing enough to convert people to the life of structured Assembler!

As always, I come back from SHARE not only feeling more knowledgeable, but also realizing how much there is to learn. The education and network of people that builds each year can be helpful not just in everyday code development, but in many other areas of a career. I am thankful to have had another opportunity to attend SHARE.

San Diego was an enlightening week for zNextGen and it was very encouraging to receive the support we did from attendees and other volunteers. We want to add depth to our core team as we develop, continue to keep in contact with key people beyond our team, and make some critical decisions soon before the next conference. I am very optimistic about the future of zNextGen, and will continue to put my heart into this project so that we all can see the benefits now and in the next 50 years of SHARE.

Be sure to check out the photo attachment :-)

Again, thanks to my team and all the volunteers that continue to make zNextGen a success!

Mini Mainframe History Quiz!!

kharper — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:06:00 GMT

Mainframe History Quiz!

For something a little different, I thought I’d give y’all a little mainframe challenge to enjoy! Here’s a 10-question quiz to test what you know about mainframe history - have fun and don’t peek at the answers at the bottom J

Punch card technology was first constructed by Herman Hollerith in:

1860
1880
1908
1930

Which was never a real IBM computer system?

980
3033
7094
650

What does ENIAC really stand for anyway?

Electronic Number Inversion and Conversion
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator
Electrical Numeric Integer Advanced Calculations
Everyone Needs Insane Acronym Choices

In 1991, who unsuccessfully announced “I predict that the last mainframe will be unplugged on March 15^th, 1996”?

Dr. John V. Atanasoff
Steve Jobs
Bill Gates
Stewart Alsop

I was born this same year that the IBM XT made it’s debut:

1983
1982
1981
1984

What is the correct chronological order of these events (leading up to most recent)?

Punch card technology à COBOL introduced à UNIX developed à EDVAC created
EDVAC createdà Punch card technology à COBOL introduced à UNIX developed
Punch card technology à UNIX developed à COBOL introduced à EDVAC created
Punch card technology à EDVAC created à COBOL introduced à UNIX developed

Which is/was not a real programming language?

Snobol
Limbo
m6
Jal

IMS came about due to the needs of:

NASA
U.S. Military
WWII leaders
U.S. prison systems

What does MVS stand for?

Multi-functional Virtual Storage
Multiple Virtual Storage
Multi-tasking Variety Storage
Multiple Virtual System

The latest and greatest IBM z9 came out in:

2006
2004
2005
2003

Hope it wasn’t too hard J I had a fun time researching these questions…if you find any errors or have any fun facts to add, be sure to add a comment or let me know!

Finally, I came upon an interesting article from the NY Times written in 1984 denouncing the future of the mainframe…J

Answers: 1. b; 2. a; 3. b; 4. d; 5. a; 6. d; 7. c; 8. a; 9. b; 10. c

Til next time! Kristine

Mainframe Listservs

kharper — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:40:00 GMT

I was recently asked if I could help someone find some good mainframe resources – especially listservs. There are indeed plenty of good listservs out there, and it dawned on me that if you are new to the mainframe, it is probably not blatantly obvious where to find them in order to subscribe. So here are a few good ones that I enjoy and find informative:

IBM-Main – this is the “main” mainframe listserv out there. There is a wealth of information about all sorts of topics, ranging from a very specific APAR announcement to general mainframe questions. This is definitely a heavy traffic listserv, so be warned ahead of time. But for a new mainframer like myself, there is usually some thread I can learn from and some of the smartest people I know post to IBM-Main. If you have a question to ask, someone will usually respond in minutes!
ASM – this is the IBM Mainframe Assembler list, where programmers of all levels can share information and ask questions about the Assembler language. I find this very useful – not too much traffic and you can read about all kinds of goodies. Plus “the” assembler gurus are active on this list, so you can be sure the information is reliable!
ISPF – The ISPF discussion list is also a low traffic, helpful list you can subscribe to whether you are a new or experienced ISPF user. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, ISPF is one of those facilities where it is hard to ever learn everything, so this is a first-rate place to ask your questions and pick up tips.
TSO-REXX – I often integrate Assembler and REXX programs, and this is a great place to learn more about TSO and REXX. Very low traffic, but great information. (Note – in the link to subscribe, scroll down past the archives.)
DB2 – I’m not a heavy DB2 user, but this is a great source of information if you are.
RACF – I frequently monitor this list, as sometimes RACF issues come up when I’m coding in Assembler or running tests. Good information, as RACF can have many unexpected tricky areas!
MVS – The MVS Open Edition listserv; tons of topics and great Q&A’s. (Note – in the link to subscribe, scroll down past the archives.)
JES2 – Another useful list where you can get very specific JES2 questions answered. Topics include JCL, commands, job scheduling and much more!
JES3 – The JES3 Sysprog list offers a variety of information and is sure to be helpful whether or not you are new to JES3.

I don’t subscribe to all of these, but often check the archives if I have a specific question in mind. For most of these, you can subscribe to the “digest” version, where you receive only one large email (weekly I believe) with all the threads, instead of individual emails for each thread. Don’t be afraid to post a question – there are smart people on these lists and people are often your best mainframe resource out there!

Any other good ones out there that I missed?

Til next week,

Kristine

Some of My Favorite ISPF Commands

kharper — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:16:00 GMT

As a developer, you can usually (ok, well, more than "usually") find me working on ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility). So for this blog, I thought I'd share some of my favorite and most used ISPF commands. If you are an experienced ISPF user, perhaps these are some of your faves too, and if not, these are definitely some commands I recommend you try out.

Block column shifts

Place a pair of "((" or "))" around a block of code to shift the code left or right. By typing a number after the closing block command, you can specify exactly how many columns you want the code to be shifted left or right.
I find this particularly useful in ISPF Edit when I'm working on a module and discover that a chunk of code needs to be placed in an IF/ELSE/ENDIF block or needs to be further nested in an SPM (Structured Programming Macro...see other blogs for more info.). Much easier than manually indenting the code, especially when you have more than just a few lines you want to shift.

Block exclude

Place a pair of "xx" around a block of code to exclude those lines from display. You can also just use "x" followed by a number to specify exactly how many lines you wish to exclude.
I use this a lot when I'm working on a module in ISPF Edit and need to simultaneously look at two chunks of code that are not located near each other in the module.

AUTOTYPE

Set one of your function keys to AUTOTYPE (type "KEYS" in ISPF). This command will let you type a partial name into a Library field (project, group, type or member) or the Other Data Set Name field - then press your function key you set up and ISPF will fill in the value. Pressing the key again will retrieve the next value.
Very useful if you are constantly working between many different libraries and can't always remember them all :-)

System command extension

While in SDSF, you can type "/" to bring up a pop-up in ISPF that will allow you to enter very long commands.
Sometimes the command line is not long enough to type in your entire command and this allows for commands up to 126 (I believe that's the limit...) characters long. What I really like is that it remembers your previous commands so you don't have to retype it all again.

TSO ISRDDN

Type this command in ISPF to "view and manipulate allocated files, to view existing ENQs and ENQ contention, and to browse storage and loaded load modules." This diagnostic facility is very useful for investigating datasets. You can view and compress datasets, get detailed information and display a list of jobs and users using a dataset.
I like this command because it gives me a good overall picture of what's going on in my sessions regarding datasets - very useful when doing testing.

EX ALL;F 'string' ALL

This is a nice condensed find command that I often use in ISPF EDIT to isolate the results of the find. The find command can be as complex as you like, and the results are displayed in an easy to read chunk, with all the lines that did not meet the find criteria omitted from the display.

There are many others, but this is a good starting list for those of you who are new to ISPF and want some commands to make your life easier.

So if you use ISPF often too, what are your favorite slick commands? I always want to learn more, so please share!

Til next time, Kristine

Review of SHARE in Tampa

kharper — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:10:00 GMT

What a week in Tampa and things are finally settling down, so I thought I'd post a review of my week at the 108th SHARE.

Due to the situation in New Orleans, the rescheduling and location change caused this SHARE to fall during Valentine’s week. The trip began with a nice surprise…flying to Tampa on my birthday wasn’t exactly my idea of celebrating but that night many of my zNextGen friends (including the President of SHARE!) all gathered to throw me a surprise party! Candles and cake and all - what a nice birthday!

As the project manager of the newly formed zNextGen project at SHARE, and as a volunteer for the Assembler project, much of my time was spent making sure the week went smoothly for zNextGen and attending the always-impressive Assembler sessions. Luckily, my team and I were successful in keeping zNextGen on track, and we came out of Tampa with a lot gained, but a lot to learn. zNextGen is a project whose mission is to “serve as the gateway for newcomers, to leverage the experience of mainframe veterans, and to expedite our members’ professional development in this crucial segment of the IT workforce.” We have been growing steadily since the idea for this project emerged in Boston almost 2 years ago, and now have over 240 members.

Tampa was quite an experience for us. Our opening was very well attended, thanks to our keynote speaker Cheryl Watson, and we are generating quite a buzz at SHARE and beyond. I think the support NESI has given me and zNextGen has paid off and will continue to do so in the years to come. This project is important to us, as it parallels the efforts driven by Don Odom and others in getting mainframe education up and running in Houston colleges. I think the exposure NESI has gained by being a part of zNextGen could really help our already strong presence in the pursuit of educating a new generation of mainframe professionals. Getting our company’s name out there in front of the newer generation and our mentors is really creating a new outlook towards NESI.

Along those lines, I must give a HUGE thank you to NESI for sponsoring the zNextGen Networking Event that we hosted on Wednesday at SHARE. Though we would have liked to see more new mainframers in the crowd, the event went very well and I think everyone had a good time. Check out some photos here!

The zNextGen team also enjoyed attending a training session for trialing out SHARE’s new online communications forum. zNextGen is currently a pilot project to test this tool, and we are collaborating with the SHARE IT team to provide them user feedback. Our initial impression is that it will be very beneficial to our project as the tool develops. We plan to use the forum to foster communication between members and mentors, and to provide a common place to file zNextGen-related documents and articles. Stay tuned!

We have a lot to learn as we move west to California, but we are hoping to reach out to people outside our team in order to steer our project in the right direction. Tampa was an enlightening week for zNextGen and it was very encouraging to receive the support we did from attendees and other volunteers. We want to add depth to our core team as we develop, continue to keep in contact with key people beyond our team, and make some critical decisions soon before the next conference. I am very optimistic about the future of zNextGen, and will continue to put my heart into this project so that we all can see the benefits now and in the next 50 years of SHARE and mainframe technology.

As always, the sessions at SHARE were of the highest caliber. The technical content and real-world scenarios presented were invaluable. Some of my favorites that I was able to attend were:

SHARE Team Time on Saturday – interesting to see all the volunteer efforts that go into making SHARE successful.
MVS Program Opening – Jerry Ng’s customer-driven funny APARs helped keep you awake in this 8am session. Example: IBM support mentioned that the customer might begin working on the problem by changing something in RACF…to which the customer replied “Change RACF?! I have a better chance of bringing peace to the whole world!” J
z/OS Basics sessions – Bob Rogers gave a tremendous 3 part session on Sunday giving a detailed yet easy to understand overview of z/OS. The intro SMP/E sessions I went to were also just amazing!
Fulfilling the Challenge: A Perspective on Education – this was a continuation of sorts from the Day with the Professors sessions held in Baltimore. Professor David Douglas from the University of Arkansas came to present on his views of the mainframe and the lack of skilled professionals. Very interesting to hear from a professor who teaches mainframe courses and recognizes their value!
Assembler Language: Basic Conditional Assembly and Macro Techniques – another very detailed session by John Ehrman, with an exceptional handout!
Intro Network sessions – some basic networking sessions I went to really helped build the big picture.
Intro to RACF – lots of good information!

My presentation on Tony Lubrano’s HALO went very well. I would always say I could have done better, but the audience seemed very intrigued by the flexibility and capability of this product. As predicted, they were very impressed by the tried-and-true technology of D2 on which HALO is based and by the one-and-only-one DBR. J

As always, I come back from SHARE feeling more knowledgeable, but also realizing how much there is to learn. The education and network of people that builds each year can be helpful not just in everyday code development, but in many other areas of a career. I am thankful to have had another opportunity to attend SHARE.

If you’d like to hear any little details I have left out, let me know!

Thanks,

Kristine

Preview of SHARE in Tampa, February 2007

kharper — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:59:00 GMT

It’s a crazy but fabulous Friday as I get the final preparations done for SHARE in Tampa next week. As the project manager of zNextGen, I’ve learned that a lot goes into making each conference a success. It takes many dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers, and I am glad to be one of them! I wanted to post an update on how things are going for zNextGen and give a preview of all the exciting events taking place next week for our project.

There is great energy surrounding the zNextGen project, especially as we gear up for our 4^th SHARE. Tampa will surely be another notable and beneficial experience, thanks to the hard work of my team to continue to momentum from Baltimore. Since the conference in August, 2006, zNextGen has grown to 200+ members, representing over 88 companies and 6 countries around the world! A large community indeed, but through monthly calls, team calls, emails and our website, we have become quite a cohesive group.

We are looking forward to another successful SHARE in Tampa next week. There are many sessions that have been specifically geared towards benefiting our members, including a trio of z/OS introductory sessions to be given by Bob Rogers on Sunday. We have created another zNextGen certificate track and Grid of Recommended Sessions to help our members take full advantage of all that SHARE has to offer. The zNextGen Opening session on Monday is sure to be exciting, as we have Cheryl Watson lined up as our star keynote speaker. We have networking and social activities planned, including the primary event on Wednesday night sponsored by NEON Enterprise Software, Inc.

If you are attending SHARE next week, be sure to catch me sometime during the week! I will be presenting the following 3 seesions:

Session 1214: Change That IMS Database – Without an Outage!; Monday @ 3pm, Room 8

I will be giving an overview of our own Tony Lubrano’s HALO, a product that allows you to convert IMS databases and implement changes without taking databases offline for the entire conversion.

Session 3100: zNextGen Project Opening and Keynote; Monday @ 4:30pm, Room 25

This is our opening session, where we have Cheryl Watson lined up as our keynote speaker.

Session 3101: zNextGen Project Wrap-Up; Thursday @ 3pm, Room 25

This session will wrap things up in preparation for the next SHARE. We have a free-for-all planned and will review the week in Tampa.

In addition to those sessions, here are others I highly recommend:

Session 8179: The Incredibly Powerful (but Little-Known) CFC/UPT Instructions; Monday @ 4:30, Room 6

NESI’s own Tom Harper will show how to design and code CFC and UPT to sort an arbitrary number of records.

Session 1314: A DB2 for z/OS Performance Tuning Roadmap; Monday @ 3pm, Room 9

NESI’s own Craig Mullins (check out his blog too!) will discuss DB2 tuning issues and provide performance tips.

Session 1332: Change Control For DB2 Access Paths; Tuesday @ 4:30, Room 9

NESI’s own Craig Mullins will discuss the challenges of managing DB2 access paths along with using Bind ImpactExpert to analyze and manage access path changes.

Sessions 2891-2893: z/OS Basics: A z/OS Walking Tour Through MVS Concepts and Facilities; Sunday @ 1:30, 3 and 4:30, Ballroom C

Bob Rogers will present on z/OS operating system and hardware basics, using his unique talent for making the complex understandable and the trivial interesting.

Session 3102: Fulfilling the Challenge: A Perspective on Education; Tuesday @ 8am, Room 25

Special guest Professor David Douglas from University of Arkansas will discuss the current environment and trends within the Academic-Industry-IBM triangle.

So many good sessions, so little time! And I must mention again that NEON Enterprise Software, Inc. is sponsoring the big zNextGen Networking Event on Wednesday evening @ 7pm @ Shark’s Restaurant and Bar! Free food and drinks for the first 60 people to sign up (see me or any zNextGen team member for details) plus free gifts for all!

I think this will be our best SHARE yet and I encourage you to get more information about the conference and zNextGen from the websites. If you will not be at SHARE, don’t worry, I will definitely post a review when I return and get my head on straight again! J

-Kristine

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Preview of SHARE in Tampa, February 2007

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