management: The New What On Earth is a Mainframe: Whats Changed?

This month, Longpela Expertise celebrates the release of the second edition of its book "What On Earth is a Mainframe" (WOEIAM for short). First released in 2008, WOEIAM is a book designed to explain the basics about IBM Z mainframes and z/OS to the total beginner. Never heard of "datasets', "JES" or "SNA"? You are the person we created the book for.

Over the past 17 years, WOEIAM has become THE book for beginners wanting to learn about the mainframe. Thousands have been sold worldwide, and reviews on sites like Amazon are glowing. Seventeen years seems like a long time between editions, and it is. In fact, one Amazon review of the first edition says it all: "Good basic info, but in serious need for an update." Well, the update is now here. But what's changed? We've updated the book with some of the recent changes in mainframes, like RESTful APIs, cloud storage, and RDMA communications. We've also removed things that are no longer relevant, like Communications Controller, HFS datasets and the Sysplex Timer.

Many names have changed as well; DB2 is Db2, and Websphere MQ is now IBM MQ. Vendors and product names have also changed: BMC has acquired Compuware, Rocket Software now owns ASG, and CA is the proud possession of Broadcom. We've updated the book with these changes and any subsequent name changes.

There are two new additions: a chapter on mainframe modernisation, and a new mainframe 'map' to help visualise where all the names fit in.

Changes have also been made to make it easier to read and understand where you are in the book. Finally, the cover has been jazzed up a bit.

But a lot of the book hasn't changed, just as a lot of z/OS and mainframes are the same. Still explains the basics in simple, light-hearted, entertaining English. Still has 'boxes' with interesting trivia and information. Still has a Glossary to find clear definitions of mainframe terms, and a comprehensive index to help you find things fast. Still summarises the whole book in one chapter (though the length has increased from three to three and a half pages).

We hope everyone enjoys this new edition as much as they enjoyed the first one.

David Stephens

LongEx Quarterly is a quarterly eZine produced by Longpela Expertise. It provides Mainframe articles for management and technical experts. It is published every November, February, May and August.

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