On 2/19/2013 7:09 AM, Steve Conway wrote:
Paul Gilmartin wrote, in response to Ed Jaffe:
I perceive a bit of expert's elitism, even narcissism in that rhetoric:
"If you don't already know that, you're beneath my attention!" (I've
tripped over the convention myself, at times.)
You obviously don't know Ed Jaffe. You read a whole lot more into his
post than he put there.
Classic projection. ;)
I have a personal and professional interest in identifying and working with
folks who are new to our platform. I am actively involved, especially in
conjunction with the MVS Program and zNextGen at SHARE, in helping to identify
real and/or perceived problems/barriers through which new folks must work once
they suddenly find themselves immersed in a mainframe environment (especially
z/OS). I assumed that HLASM "old timers" would be so familiar with the
conventions used in PoOp that the "second operand" discussion would not have
originated with them--thus my inquiry as to the experience level of the OP along
with an attempt to explain my rationale for asking.
This is an area of great general interest to the mainframe community at large.
The topic of shortages of mainframe skills and so-called "vitality hires"
dominated the "Ask the Experts Panel and MVS Program Closing" at SHARE in San
Francisco -- a session over which I preside as MC. The discussion involved so
many different people and points of view that not one single technical question
was asked! (First time ever for such a discussion, I think...)
In case you were wondering, there most definitely ARE new, young, highly-skilled
and motivated HLASM programmers entering the workforce. Most of them work for
IBM and ISVs. Vit Gottwald (from CA Technologies), co-Project Manager of the
zNextGen Project at SHARE, is one such person. Vit took a few minutes during the
above-referenced SHARE session, to explain what excites him about our platform.
The audience applauded when he told them that being able to program in HLASM was
the primary reason he took his current job! The other zNextGen co-Project
Manager is Linda Mooney who is a great example of how a person can be new to the
platform without also being fresh out of school.
[Aside: If you're interested in getting involved with zNextGen, search for and
join their groups on Facebook and/or Linked-In. I believe there are currently
about 700 members. More are always welcome...]
Modernization efforts are underway to try to make configuring, managing, and
even programming a mainframe more "user friendly" to folks that are new to the
platform. (Some examples from IBM are z/OSMF and RDz. ISV's are doing some great
things in this realm as well. I reviewed some of Phoenix Software
International's mainframe modernization strategy during my Valentine's Day
webinar, hosted last week by IBM Systems Magazine.) The efficacy of these
efforts has yet to be fully measured and realized.
In any case, a change to the conventions used in PoOp is unlikely to be a
candidate for any such effort.
--
Edward E Jaffe
Phoenix Software International, Inc
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/
