On 16/01/2014 10:03 AM, Tony Thigpen wrote:
Are you saying that all assembler programmers (including those on the
Assembler-List) are only for Systems Programmers? I am sure there are a
lot of assembler application programmers here also.
Tony Thigpen
-----Original Message -----
From: Gord Tomlin
Sent: 01/15/2014 05:53 PM
On 2014-01-15 17:17, Tony Thigpen wrote:
(Most Mainframe assembler programmers did time as a COBOL programmer.)
Interesting assertion. The majority of systems programmers I know did
not come from an applications programming background. Personally, I've
only written one COBOL program since university, which means it's the
only one I wrote without using a keypunch.
Interesting. I started programming in 1969 on a S360/20, an interesting
system running TPS, learning RPG and 360 BAL at the same time. My first
"system programming" experience was on the /20 under DPS which had 2
disk drives from memory 2311 specific to to the /20 DPS. One drive had a
100 cylinders and the other drive 200 cylinders and the task was to back
up the 200 cylinder drive. No tape drives. I quite enjoyed the challenge.
I progressed to a 360/30 where I learnt COBOL. Unfortunately my follow
programmers couldn't be bothered learning the facilities of the new
Cobol we got with an upgrade to a 370/135. A beautiful program I crafted
to give the appearance of a 5 dimension array when the compiler only
supported 3 dimensions only lasted 3 months after I left.
I progressed to Pl/I at the next job. Whilst called a systems
programmer it was more "technical programming". You were a jack of
all trades, DOS/VS, CICS/VS, DL/1, specialist programs and performance
and capacity programming. No network, it was all local 3270 BTAM. I had
just introduced VM at the site when I left and went to a MVS/SP 1.3.?.
On the MVS sites I only learnt CLIST and REXX, REXX accounted for
probably 80% of my programming with ALC the remainder. I also learnt
enough VTAM and TCP/IP to be dangerous.
Most of my contempory's in those early years would have had similar
backgrounds and progessions.
I mo
--
Ken
Mob: 0409 009 764
