Who would win in a fight between AS400 Client Access and IBM i ACS? In a hypothetical showdown between IBM Client Access (the legacy AS400 version) and IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS), it’s less a fight and more a generational beatdown – ACS would come out on top, hands down. IMHO of course. Think …

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Welcome, brave IBM AS400, iSeries, and IBM i warriors, to the wild world of debugging RPG code! Whether you’re slinging legacy RPG or rocking the modern Free Format vibe on the IBM i Power System, one thing’s for sure: bugs happen. If your subfiles are staging a revolt, your data’s gone AWOL, or your boss …

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In a world where build automation is a mystical art, one brave warrior dares to conquer the realm of “RULES.mk” config files with Visual Studio Code and IBM i. Join us on this thrilling adventure! Step 1: Prepare for Battle (Install the Necessary Extensions) Gather your trusty steed (Visual Studio Code) and equip it with …

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I was recording a VSCODE for IBM i video this morning, talking about the different ways of storing our RPGLE code as a bound RPGLE program, or as separate modules which are then bound into a program with the CRTPGM command. So, I accidentally wrote this description of OPM vs ILE and realized that it …

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If you have read any of my previous blogs about IBM i Programming, the chances are, you know I’m becoming a bit of a VS-Code fanboy… or maybe Fanman… well… probably fangeezer is most accurate. Over the last couple of months, we’ve seen some really neat updates to the Code for IBM i and other …

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Mastering Git on the IBM i: It’s not as hard as you might think! As an IBM i developer, you’re likely familiar with the traditional source control tools available on the platform, such as PDM, SEU and Third party tools like TURNOVER, ALDON, etc. While these tools have served the IBM i community well, the …

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Interviews are a worrying time for most people, right? Not for me! I really enjoy them. But, with 30+ years of experience under my belt, I have a very comfortable time talking about all aspects of the wonderful IBM POWER SYSTEM and the IBM i OPERATING SYSTEM. I know maybe half of the operating system …

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IBM i Journals are the Sherlock Holmes of data storage. IBM i Journal keeps a log of events, just like your Diary. Imagine writing down every single thing that happened to you during the day. This is what a journal does for any file on the system. Me – trying to explain what a journal …

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Come with me while I go on a journey of discovery setting sail from the land of Legacy AS400 coding techniques, sailing over the horizon in search of the future of IBM i Coding Techniques. The mission is to migrate away from green screen, also known as command line interface, and leave the old trusty …

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A while ago, I got this terrific email from a subscriber. I will call him “Nuno”. Not because that’s a pseudonym, but because that’s his name. Hi Nuno! So, lightly paraphrased this is what Nuno said to me: It warms my heart to get emails like this 🙂 I’ve been writing blogs on here for …

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In our clan of gray haired AS400 and iSERIES programmers, we all have roots in the good old RPG LOGIC CYCLE. We have one foot in the old world of huge programs with tens of thousands of lines written in a very start-middle-end style, often with many subroutines. The other foot is in the modern …

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SPOILER ALERT: It is NOT! The IBM AS400 was a groundbreaking computer system. First released in 1988 it quickly became the business system of choice for millions of companies all over the world. The AS400 was released to a pre-internet civilization, it grew and evolved as technology was introduced through the eighties, nineties and into …

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