Java(tm) for S/390® and AS/400® COBOL Programmers [Paperback]

George Farr (Author), Phil Coulthard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1583470115 | ISBN-13: 978-1583470114 | Publication Date: June 6, 2000

Written by mainframe and midrange professionals George Farr and Phil Coulthard, Java for S/390 & AS/400 COBOL Programmers is designed to help COBOL programmers make the jump to Java. It teaches COBOL programmers how to read and write Java programs and helps them understand the concepts necessary to continue to improve their Java skills. Rather than serve merely as an overview, Java for S/390 & AS/400 COBOL Programmers is a massive work of more than 900 pages that addresses Javas syntax and much of the Java Development Kits (JDKs) functionality through comparisons with COBOL. It also introduces applets, Java Native Interface (JNI), Remote Method Invocation (RMI), serialization, JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans, servlets, JavaServer Pages, and even Extensible Markup Language (XML). Because VisualAge for Java (VAJ) is by far the most widely used Java tool among AS/400 and S/390 programmers, the book also includes an introduction to VAJ with both AS/400 and S/390 details. The book contains separate appendices, geared explicitly to OS/400 and OS/390 readers, with platform-specific information. Many analysts are predicting that Java will overtake COBOLs commanding lead as the language of choice for business applications running on mainframe and midrange computers. This leaves COBOL programmers with a huge problem. They do not know Java, nor do they understand object-oriented concepts. They have never seen a function, let alone free-form C-style syntax, classes, objects, or methods. Although there are hundreds of books about Java on the market, they all assume C, C++, or Visual Basic knowledge. It can be a humbling, daunting, and frustrating experience for a COBOL professional to try to learn Java without the proper prerequisite knowledge. This book will make learning Java as comfortable as possible.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Phil Coulthard is the lead architect for AS/400 application development projects at the IBM Toronto Laboratory. He has worked as a developer, team leader, manager, and general advocate of AS/400 application developments since 1986. An author of many industry magazine articles and a frequent speaker at AS/400 conferences, Phil currently resides in Aurora, Ontario.

George N. Farr is the technical development manager for RPG IV as well as VisualAge for RPG products. He has held the position of developer, team leader, and development manager, and has been an AS/400 planner and architect since 1985. He is a frequent speaker at AS/400 conferences and user groups worldwide and has written many industry magazine articles and books including ILE: A First Look and RPG IV by Example. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada.

Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Mc Press (June 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583470115
• ISBN-13: 978-1583470114
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,126,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...just like starting over...again, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Java(tm) for S/390® and AS/400® COBOL Programmers (Paperback)

Instead of calling it "Java for Dummies" they decided to be nice to us old-timers and call it "Java for...Cobol programmers", but that's OK. Prepare yourself for a thick heavy meal that must be digested very slowly. Not a stone left unturned, very, very meticulous. There is a lot of exhaustive material so you will need a lot of time to go through this. Measure it not in weeks but perhaps in a few good months. But it will push you a good way up the path that many of us must take, for those of us who will not accept that there is more behind us than ahead of us. Go for it - and good luck to us all!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it, September 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Java(tm) for S/390® and AS/400® COBOL Programmers (Paperback)

This is a great book for programmer from the procedural world trying to lear Java. There is lot of comparison to Cobol code. The examples are detailed and more real world much unlike the examples found in other Java books. Chapter 9 on Object orientation is gem.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...just like starting over...again, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Java(tm) for S/390® and AS/400® COBOL Programmers (Paperback)

Instead of calling it "Java for Dummies" they decided to be nice to us old-timers and call it "Java for...Cobol programmers", but that's OK. Prepare yourself for a thick heavy meal that must be digested very slowly. Not a stone left unturned, very, very meticulous. There is a lot of exhaustive material so you will need a lot of time to go through this. Measure it not in weeks but perhaps in a few good months. But it will push you a good way up the path that many of us must take, for those of us who will not accept that there is more behind us than ahead of us. Go for it - and good luck to us all!