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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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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What is an IBM i PATH? In PASE (Portable Application Solutions Environment), $PATH is an environment variable that stores a list of directories where the system searches for executable files, such as commands and programs. The PATH is like a *LIBL for open source. Just like library lists, the PATH setting only exists during our …

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The Object Builder for i (TOBi) – Formerly known as BOB The Object Builder for i, or TOBi, was originally called Better Object Builder, or Bob, until 2025 when a name clash occurred with a different IBM AI also called Bob. TOBi – is a tool to compile and recompile objects in the IBM i …

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SHORTCUTS for VS Code for IBM i Recently, I’ve been using the wonderful Visual Studio code editor with CODE 4 IBM i a lot. After ditching IBM RDi, I’ve found myself constantly referring to the VSCODE cheat sheet to learn the many keyboard shortcuts. So, just for my reference (and maybe to help someone else …

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One IBM i IDE to Rule them All IBM has released a seemingly innocuous update to IBM Rational Developer for IBM i. The new version, V9.8, is built over the latest version of eclipse and looks and feels the same as the previous (v9.6) version of RDi but is slightly faster. Sadly, it’s also HUGELY …

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What is VISUAL STUDIO CODE? Microsoft Visual Studio Code, “a free-editor that helps the programmer write code, helps in debugging and corrects the code using the intelli-sense method”: Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor which runs on your desktop and is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. It comes with …

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The Winner is Visual Studio Code Visual Studio Code is an IDE (Interactive Development Environment). It’s a modern coding tool helping software developers to work with many languages. To write and maintain source code on your IBM i, iSeries or AS400 system, simply download and install the ‘Code for IBM i’ addon. Visual Studio Code …

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UPDATE 2021 – Version 1 of ILEditor used to be free! Sadly, Version 2 is out and it’s become a chargeable premium code editor. Priced at $35 USD per month, per forever. 🙁 Free Premium ILE RPG Editor for IBM i – ILEDITOR I’ve been waiting for a simple free-format RPG editor for the longest …

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