I attended an interesting IBM presentation today on the topic of zIIPs, zAAPs and IFLs.
These specialty z processors are designed to support "new" workloads that were formerly the domain of Java, Linux, and *ix. After spending the past two decades losing workloads to the other platforms, the mainframe is finally* winning some of it back.
*Actually these processors have been around for the past decade or so, so it's not that recent a development.
2010-08-25
2010-08-19
Nostalgia: program flow charts
Junior programmers were once required to produce a flow chart of their program before beginning to code. They were told that it would help them work out their logic so that their coding and testing would go more smoothly.
I think it was a scam.
The real purpose of a Program flow-chart was to slow down the coding process in order to ease the workload of the keypunch department.
Full disclosure: When I started my career there was no keypunch department where I worked. We shared terminals; one for every two people. Yes kiddies, I said terminals not PCs emulating terminals.
Those were not the good old days.
I think it was a scam.
The real purpose of a Program flow-chart was to slow down the coding process in order to ease the workload of the keypunch department.
Full disclosure: When I started my career there was no keypunch department where I worked. We shared terminals; one for every two people. Yes kiddies, I said terminals not PCs emulating terminals.
Those were not the good old days.
Checkpoint
You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything since January 2010. There is no deep dark reason for this; just the usual combination of laziness and busy-ness.
Most of the posts prior to this point represent a collection of stuff that I've posted on the Internet over the past several years. A "best of" collection, I suppose.
I've recently started a new job, and that is always a good way to find some inspiration.
In my first IT job, I was well indoctrinated (brainwashed) in the procedures and processes demanded by that company. The procedure and processes were (mostly) reasonable, and what the hell, I didn't know any better anyway.
The problem came on my second career stop. I thought the new shop was idiotic for doing things differently than my old one. It was quite an adjustment, but eventually I realized that there were some interesting ideas there that I have since incorporated into my own work.
Now, many years later, I find myself back at the original company, older, wiser, and with a broader perspective.
Most of the posts prior to this point represent a collection of stuff that I've posted on the Internet over the past several years. A "best of" collection, I suppose.
I've recently started a new job, and that is always a good way to find some inspiration.
In my first IT job, I was well indoctrinated (brainwashed) in the procedures and processes demanded by that company. The procedure and processes were (mostly) reasonable, and what the hell, I didn't know any better anyway.
The problem came on my second career stop. I thought the new shop was idiotic for doing things differently than my old one. It was quite an adjustment, but eventually I realized that there were some interesting ideas there that I have since incorporated into my own work.
Now, many years later, I find myself back at the original company, older, wiser, and with a broader perspective.
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