Mainframe Assembler Programming [Paperback]

Bill Qualls (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471249939 | ISBN-13: 978-0471249931 | Publication Date: February 27, 1998 | Edition: 1

Master the skills you need to take advantage of the booming market for mainframe programmers.

Programmers acknowledge that understanding the internals of the machine helps them write more efficient code in cobol, C, and other high-level languages. Whether you are working on a Year 2000 team or setting up an e-commerce application, this book gets you up and running with the skills you'll need to retrofit systems and move mainframe programs into the 21st century.

Designed to build skills rapidly and intuitively, Mainframe Assembler Programming:
* Teaches you how to program mainframe Assembler on your PC
* Starts you programming usable code from day 1, page 1
* Structures all lessons around real-world business applications
* Uses the same five data sets throughout, so you get progressively more sophisticated results as you learn.

On the enclosed disk you'll find:
* PC/370-lets you program and execute mainframe Assembler on your PC
* Source code for all examples from the book

A rapid introduction or a refresher for experienced programmers, Mainframe Assembler Programming gives you the know-how you need to program for productivity and quality in the mainframe environment.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Programmers acknowledge that understanding the internals of the machine helps them write more efficient code in COBOL, C, and other high-level languages. Whether you are working on a Year 2000 team or setting up an e-commerce application, this book gets you up and running with the skills you'll need to retrofit systems and move mainframe programs into the 21st century. Designed to build skills rapidly and intuitively, Mainframe Assembler Programming: teaches you how program mainframe Assembler on your PC; starts you programming usable code from day 1, page 1; structures all lessons around real-world business applications; uses the same five data sets throughout, so you get progressively more sophisticated results as you learn.

From the Back Cover

Master the skills you need to take advantage of the booming market for mainframe programmers.

Programmers acknowledge that understanding the internals of the machine helps them write more efficient code in cobol, C, and other high-level languages. Whether you are working on a Year 2000 team or setting up an e-commerce application, this book gets you up and running with the skills you'll need to retrofit systems and move mainframe programs into the 21st century.

Designed to build skills rapidly and intuitively, Mainframe Assembler Programming:
* Teaches you how to program mainframe Assembler on your PC
* Starts you programming usable code from day 1, page 1
* Structures all lessons around real-world business applications
* Uses the same five data sets throughout, so you get progressively more sophisticated results as you learn.

On the enclosed disk you'll find:
* PC/370-lets you program and execute mainframe Assembler on your PC
* Source code for all examples from the book

A rapid introduction or a refresher for experienced programmers, Mainframe Assembler Programming gives you the know-how you need to program for productivity and quality in the mainframe environment.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471249939
• ISBN-13: 978-0471249931
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Assembly Language Programming

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for learning and understanding mainframe assembler, July 3, 1999

By 

csmo (Puget Sound) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mainframe Assembler Programming (Paperback)

This is a very good book for someone who is new to assembler, but is also appropriate for someone familiar with an assembler language who wishes to learn mainframe assembler. Not only does this book describe the assembler instructions, but it explains important bit-level concepts and the use of structured programming techniques with assembler. The book begins with an example of a one-instruction assembler program for writing a message to the console. As new instructions are introduced, practical examples of their use are presented and explained. Each chapter ends with a series of exercises. The first exercise is always a set of True/False questions (with answers in the back of the book). The remaining exercises are simple programming problems. Included with this book is a copy of a freeware application for simulating a mainframe assembler in DOS. There is also an appendix which describes the steps that are needed on a mainframe to run mainframe assembler programs that were created on the PC. If your goal is to learn to write mainframe assembler programs, then I don't see how you could miss with this book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for absolute beginners. Not for smarter people., September 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mainframe Assembler Programming (Paperback)

This book is a fairly good intro to Assembler language on MVS. Programmers who have not got a clue about what Assembler is, will benefit from it. However, you'll outgrow this book in two weeks. Character and number representation is dealt in detail. But important concepts like base register, addressability and macro language are only mentioned here and there without any real treatment. This indeed leaves a big gap in the book. Do buy this book if you are really new in the world of Assembler. Don't buy this book if you are planning to become a systems programmer one day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to BAL I've found, May 10, 2006

By 

L. Anderson (California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mainframe Assembler Programming (Paperback)

After struggling for weeks in a local community college online class using Peter Abel's Programming Assembler Language book with the PC370 IBM370 emulator, I happened upon a link to Bill Quall's excellent book. It is extremely readable, has excellent, clearly documented & complete programs to illustrate concepts, and very educational end of chapter quizzes with answers in the back. Best of all, it is written specifically to work with Don Higgin's PC370 emulator (the differences are few, but important). I doubt I would have passed the class without this book (due to lack of applicable information in the resources I had prior to finding this book).

The only thing I could come up with (and it is only a caution, not a true negative) is that although the book is 563 pages, it does not go as far as I would like. I would love to have a volume 2 by the same author which describes use of multiple CSECT programs and MACRO writing (and whatever else I don't know I'm missing).

Another caution: I paid $25 or so for a used copy and now the only copy I see online is offered at $99 (used), so I might look around a bit or try to plow through the IBM Principles of Operations (free online) unless I absolutely needed to get up to speed quickly for class or work.

Overall, I cannot praise the writing style and educational value of this book highly enough, especially for a newbie to mainframe assembly programming (don't think it will be of much use to those wanting to learn Intel assembly!)