IDz
IBM Developer for z/OS: an Eclipse-based development tool for writing, building and debugging mainframe programs on a PC.
Also written IBM Developer for z/OS, RDz, Rational Developer for z, Z Open Editor
IDz, IBM Developer for z/OS, is a development environment that runs on your own computer and connects to z/OS. It is based on Eclipse, and it was earlier called Rational Developer for System z, or RDz.
It offers what developers expect from a modern editor: COBOL, PL/I and JCL with colours, outlines of a program's structure, errors marked as you type, and jumping to where a field or paragraph is defined. It shows datasets and jobs on the mainframe, lets you submit JCL and read output, and connects to the debugger, so you can step through a program inside the editor.
Many sites also use VS Code with extensions for the same purpose, such as Zowe Explorer and IBM Z Open Editor. The choice is often made by the site.
These tools do not change what you are working with. The datasets, JCL, compilers and jobs are the same as in ISPF. They change how you see and edit them, which many people, especially those coming from other platforms, find easier.
Where can I learn this hands-on?
Right here, at ZedBank. You take a junior job at a simulated bank and learn each part of the work by doing it, with Zed beside you. There's nothing to install.
Start at ZedBankRelated
- ZoweOpen-source tools that let you work with z/OS from a laptop, an editor such as VS Code, or a script.
- z/OS DebuggerA tool for running a program step by step, stopping at chosen lines and looking at the values of its fields.
- COBOLThe programming language most business logic on the mainframe is written in. Verbose by design, and still running the world's payments.
- Source code managerA tool that stores mainframe source code, tracks every version, and moves changes through test stages to production in a controlled way.
- ISPF editorThe full-screen text editor used to write and change JCL, COBOL, REXX and anything else held in a dataset.