RPG modernization and spring cleaning, IBM i database re‑engineering and technical debt, mentorship and leadership tips for speaking engagements, open‑source trends and agile vs. traditional planning, job market insights for workers over 50 and remote‑work best practices.
RPG Spring cleaning
Spring is here and it is time for growth and new beginnings. RPG has been the backbone for development on the AS/400 (IBM i, iSeries) since the beginning. But like anything, it’s time to clear out some of the old and make way for the new. We know it is not an easy task, but it is necessary to modernize your systems and applications. A good place to start would be to update the database and move from DDS to DDL. Then start by using Free Format RPG, and make a move from SEU to RDi. DevOps is emerging as a new way of doing things in many IBM i shops. It might make sense to become familiar with what it is and how you might benefit from it. Consider what you can do as part of the IBM i community to help give rebirth to the platform.
News
Success story about IBM i Database Re-engineering Great story. “You may not be feeling any pain today and you may have no plans to change your business/IT alignment in the future, but much of the technology-driven business world is changing, which at some point will leave you alone on an island with a boat but no motor and no paddle.” Why do we need to talk about technical debt? Because technical debt can be tied to the organizations well being. “Most businesses are now dependent on technology for critical business functions. But, like financial debt, it’s something that people don’t want to talk about, as they don’t want to admit that their organization might be falling behind.”
Leadership
How to ask someone to be your mentor We talked about this before. The AS/400 community is in a transformation. The IBM i community is looking for leaders. Mentorship is one way to get there. In fact, “Many business leaders say that mentorship has contributed to their rise.” 15 tips for first time speaking engagements “As a business leader looking to their first speaking engagement at a conference, it can be a daunting task to get up in front of a group of your peers for the first time.”
Open Source
Looking back at 2017 and the GitHub Octoverse “Millions of developers use GitHub to share code and build businesses.” GitHub is becoming more familiar to IBM i professionals. Here is a great post on GitHub detailing for what, who and how people are using it. It is broken down into categories: Code, Work, Learn and Connect. It also confirms what we have covered here before as to the most popular programming languages that are being used. Differences between Agile and traditional planning “Traditional and agile planning differ in significant ways. Before you make the leap to agile, make sure you understand how it’s distinct from what you’re used to.”
Career
The Hot Job Market for workers over 50 Interesting trends happening in the workforce across most sectors of the economy. There will always be layoffs and downsizings but it is good to know there are organizations out there looking to hire experienced talent. We see this as a trend in the IBM i market as well. Here are 10 things you need to know about working from home Working remote is becoming more and more common across all sectors of IT. Here some amazing benefits but also some things you should be aware of. This article covers 10 practical insights about working from home. In summary, you need to treat it much like going to the office.
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