Customer Reviews

System 390 Job Control Language, 4th Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was hired as a mainframe programmer (trainee) having never laid eyes on a mainframe terminal and having no experience or knowledge of mainframes. Most things have been relatively easy to learn, but JCL has been a thorn in my side from the beginning and has only gotten slightly better in the 7 months I've struggled with it. But this book is absolutely perfect for my needs because it teaches from the perspective of someone moving from a Windows environment to a mainframe environment and even draws comparisons between unfamiliar mainframe terminology and familiar PC terminology. This book is excellent and absolutely necessary if you are new to the mainframe environment and have to understand, troubleshoot, or write JCL.

Whether you are a beginner or if you've been programming for years, this is THE book. JCL is a very powerful tool and the information contained in this book is priceless for a programmer. After programming for 15 years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about JCL. This book is an invaluable reference tool that I use atleast 1-3 times a week. It is so popular where I work that others constantly borrow it. The examples contained in the book are very easy to understand. As you programmers know, when you are under the gun, you do not have time to read someone else's cryptic explanations, you want it spelled out and easy to understand. The utility section within this book covers TSO/ISPF and IBM utilities. The only part, small part of the book, that may even be considered week is the TSO/ISPF portion which I do not use. Throughout the book you will see a situation coded. Thereafter you will see "Essential, Rarely Used, Sometimes Used". If you are looking at old JCL you most likely will find your code sitting in "Rarely Used" and you can bring the JCL up to date by applying the "Essential" examples. One example of this is checking return codes after job steps. I've always coded the reverse IBM logic with a cond= statement. This book shows you how to code an IF statement in the jcl and check the exact return code with a simple .eq .gt. .lt boolean operator. Just things like this make the book very valuable to me. I've thrown out my old JCL books because this is the ONLY JCL reference I need.

This book has the reputation of being the best book available on JCL. That reputation is deserved. JCL is a difficult topic to write about, but Mr. Brown writes clearly and sympathetically. Thanks, Mr. Brown.

What a life saver. If you need to spin your own JCL, this book will answer your questions. Put the IBM manuals back on the self, this is all you need!

This is the bee's knees.

MVS Job Control Language explained in easy to understand language.

There is lot's more than just JCL. There are, for example, explanations of file Data Control Blocks, MVS Utilities, compilers, linkage editors and many more subjects of interest to anyone working on MVS.

An absolute must if you write JCL. I have it to hand on my desk all the time.

I have used Brown's books since his first 370 edition. Brown explains the often obtuse JCL with clarity not often found in technical books. It is an elegant presentation of the most central tech skill to mainframe systems. His handling of utilities is equally well done.

This book is the "bible" for all Mainframe programmers/analyst. I've had his original book....OS360 JCL decades ago and it taught me everything I needed to know about JCL. The new version is just as good....probably better!

I really like this book and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a reference to JCL and to grasp JCL concepts.

For those not acclimated to the mainframe environment I would recommend reading chapter 21-22 first. They cover ISPF and TSO which is the Mainframe "IDE" in the JCL Context. It is the method in which you code JCL, submit JCL, Debug JCL. I know the focus on the book is JCL, but I would have thought the ISPF TSO Chapters would be in the beginning. Still, a well written book.

In days past when I was up to my tush in alligators while attempting to drain the swamp (of IBM mainframe applications) I used only one reference each and every day: this book.

This may be the only book in the world that makes IBM's condition code job control understandable.

With this book you can make IBM's JCL rock and roll to your music.

Whether you are a beginner or if you've been programming for years, this is THE book. JCL is a very powerful tool and the information contained in this book is priceless for a programmer. After programming for 15 years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about JCL. This book is an invaluable reference tool that I use atleast 1-3 times a week. It is so popular where I work that others constantly borrow it. The examples contained in the book are very easy to understand. As you programmers know, when you are under the gun, you do not have time to read someone else's cryptic explanations, you want it spelled out and easy to understand. The utility section within this book covers TSO/ISPF and IBM utilities. The only part, small part of the book, that may even be considered weak is the TSO/ISPF portion which I do not use. Throughout the book you will see a situation coded. Thereafter you will see "Essential, Rarely Used, Sometimes Used". If you are looking at old JCL you most likely will find your code sitting in "Rarely Used" and you can bring the JCL up to date by applying the "Essential" examples. One example of this is checking return codes after job steps. I've always coded the reverse IBM logic with a cond= statement. This book shows you how to code an IF statement in the jcl and check the exact return code with a simple .eq .gt. .lt boolean operator. Just things like this make the book very valuable to me. I've thrown out my old JCL books because this is the ONLY JCL reference I need.