The REXX included in TSO/E is a backwater; it is missing features long available in ooRex and Regina,
The key questions on the SDK are 1. Is it a current level of Python? 2. What packages are included/ -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> on behalf of Howard Rifkind <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2024 6:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: z/OS 3.1 Enhancements & Support News I believe that being Rexx is a standard part on both z/OS & z/VM. Correct me if I’m wrong but Python is not, only in a Linux or such OS. I’ve been around over 40 years using both OS’s and only my very old fashioned manager at Seton Hall University asked to have a quick Python thing written to run only once on the z/OS system. G_d Rest his sole. Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 28, 2024, at 17:02, David Crayford > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'd prefer to avoid another instance of Crayford criticizing REXX, but > here's my take. > > One major hurdle in adopting Python is its dependency on a UNIX environment. > When I introduced Python to REXX programmers, I received feedback from > seasoned professionals (like myself) who expressed reluctance due to their > reliance on PDS data sets, TSO, and unfamiliarity with USS. Conversely, > younger colleagues I work with rarely use TSO/ISPF. > > REXX is notably inefficient—capital "I" inefficiency. I tested a Lua program > for dataset I/O that completed in less than a second, whereas the equivalent > REXX code took 12 seconds. Unfortunately, REXX's performance isn't likely to > improve; it's also considered a language riddled with weaknesses. > > Python, although not my preferred language, is significantly feature-rich. > Many REXX programmers stick with REXX out of familiarity and resist learning > something new. From a customer-oriented perspective, avoiding REXX is > advisable. Even before Python or Java emerged, opting for offloads to zIIPs > was a better choice. Python offers a generous 70% zIIP generosity factor. > >> On 29 Jun 2024, at 1:20 AM, Charles Mills <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> @Timothy, is that a Yes or a No? >> >> There has been a lot of discussion here about Rexx versus Python: "Why are >> you still using that old-fashioned Rexx when Python is so much more >> wonderful?" There are several answers, valid IMHO, including developer >> familiarity. But the key objection to Python, for third-party and similar >> software that is intended for use at multiple, often as-yet-unidentified >> sites, is the one I cite below: "if we write it in Python than any potential >> customer will have to download the Python run-time, and some customers are >> extremely reluctant to download and install non-standard (FSVO non-standard) >> software." (For Rexx, the run-time is a standard part of a z/OS install.) >> >> Is it your opinion, is it the community's opinion, that that objection has >> now gone away or is going away as time passes by and more and more shops are >> on a post-7/1/2024 download of z/OS? >> >> Charles >> >>> On Fri, 28 Jun 2024 04:10:13 +0000, Timothy Sipples <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Charles Mills wrote: >>>> Am I reading this correctly that the "they would have to download >>>> it and some shops won't do that" objection to the use of Python for >>>> third-party software goes away, at least for customers with z/OS >>>> systems ordered after July 1? >>> >>> These 3 products are ?bypassable requisites? effective July 1, 2024. See >>> Marna?s blog post for more details: >>> >>> https://community.ibm.com/community/user/ibmz-and-linuxone/blogs/chandni-dinani2/2024/06/26/zos-modernization-new-bypassable-products?communityKey=200b84ba-972f-4f79-8148-21a723194f7f >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
