[HECnet] Humour value alternative to DCL - a port OS/390 ISPF to VMS :)

[Jordi Guillaumes i Pons]

El 30/09/2013, a les 21:38, Sampsa Laine <sampsa at mac.com> va escriure:

name but it was a blessing because the shell commands were beyond human

Ever try to write anything in JCL? :)

That language is messed up, I have about 3 books on it and still can't really figure out how it works except by direct copying scripts from the book to a live system. Sometimes I even manage to compile COBOL programs, but I haven't figured out the LINK EDITOR which one needs to turn the output into an executable.

Interesting experience though, might come in handy when I come across clients with big System z or S/390 setups..

JCL is really easy once you begin to think "in JCL" instead than in DCL/whatever script language. The weirdest thing it has is the COND expression, which works the opposite it seems to have to work. Everything else is just syntax you can learn (or look at in a manual). 

JCL is NOT a script language. If you look at it under that perspective, you will never grasp it.

(I used to be one of the few rare people who wrote his JCL decks from scratch, beginning with the first //USERNAME JOB XXX... card ;)).


Jordi Guillaumes i Pons
jg at jordi.guillaumes.name
HECnet: BITXOV::JGUILLAUMES