John, I like your idea. I have a couple (perhaps somewhat naive) comments:
1. Why not just provide a straightforward, "identical" C/C++ interface to the work already done in JZOS? C/C++ can call Java via JNI, and there's a choice of 31-bit or 64-bit calling. (Supporting both would be nice.) Or at least start with that approach and see where it leads, because that's the "external" part programmers using this C/C++ interface will see. It'd mean programmers would only have to learn one interface (JZOS/JZOS-like) whether they're programming in Java, C, or C++ (or conceivably other languages, including all the JVM-based ones), stylistically speaking anyway. It also means the documentation could be extensively and liberally shared, and as JZOS evolves the C/C++ interface can more easily, too. Problem determination, debugging, error codes, codepages and Unicode, etc., etc. -- all that "detail" stuff just comes along for the ride, presumably. If you later decide you want your own backend path to DFSORT then that could even be a second, selectable/parameterized path available through the same interface. But with "Path 1" (JZOS) you start off delivering something useful, sooner, then you can decide whether "Path 2" even has merit. Yes, there's JVM startup, and some people worry about that, but a JVM can be both persistent and small if you wish. Beyond the scope of my comments here, really. Programmers can also see another (hopefully excellent) example of z/OS C/C+ + code tapping into Java via JNI, and having another such example published certainly isn't a bad thing. 2. If you package your work up in a dataset -- and I don't have an opinion on that -- given the recent discussion about compiler trends I'd say a PDSE would be recommended over a PDS. Again, though, I'm not sure you must choose. You could publish two formats: a PDSE and a pax/tar file (probably pax.Z). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, zEnterprise Industry Solutions, AP/GCG/MEA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
