[snip] > > In my experience, PC programmers simply cannot or will not > perform any > kind of post-mortem dump analysis. And, though Micro$oft operating > systems appear to have the ability to take a "dump", I have never met > anyone that knew how to, or cared to, read one. The only > thing they know > how to do is reproduce a problem under a debugger. If that can't be > done, they chalk everything up to problems with the underlying OS, > drivers, or services.
We (z/OS Tech Services) were allowed to ask questions of the vendors back when a previous administration was looking at converting everything to Windows. We had a number of questions. One question and answer stuck in my mind. We asked: "Suppose a batch process fails, how would the programmer debug that?" Their answer: "Recompile the application with debugging active. Then have the programmer single step the application under the debugger until the application fails again. Use the debugger to determine why." Subsequent question: "How long do you estimate this will take if the outage occurred after 2 hours of processing?" No answer to that one. In the deep, dark past, I actually did use a Dr. Watson report to debug a Windows problem. [snip] > These anecdotes illustrate a *huge* cultural difference between our > platform and others. This sort of thing would simply not be > tolerated on > a mainframe! PC programmers don't have the tools they need to > make their > software bullet-proof because they just don't care... > > -- > Edward E Jaffe -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer HealthMarkets Keeping the Promise of Affordable Coverage Administrative Services Group Information Technology The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged and/or confidential. It is for intended addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, reproduction, distribution or other use of this communication is strictly prohibited and could, in certain circumstances, be a criminal offense. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply and delete this message without copying or disclosing it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
