Talsco Weekly: RPG Programmers, Retirements and Modernization

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: Upcoming IBM Financial Results. IBM i Code Development Shifts ⚙️.
AI: Help Contribute To IBM’s GenAI Code Assistant For RPG.
Development: Improvements to RPG’s timestamps📈.
Hiring: RPG Programmers, Retirements and Modernization 👥.
Leadership: Leadership matters in the IBM i community⭐.
Modernization: Strategies to Understand and Manage Technical Debt 💡. Pay Down Your Technical Debt Before Implementing Gen AI🔧.

IBM i Brief

Upcoming IBM Financial Results IBM is scheduled to announce its second-quarter financial results on July 24, 2024. This announcement will provide insights into IBM’s financial performance and strategic direction for the remainder of the year. As of this week (July 17th, 2024) , IBM closed at $187.45. This is up from $160.48 at the end of 2023. IBM i Code Development Shifts ⚙️

With IBM discontinuing certain green screen development tools, the focus on Code for IBM i intensifies. Recent efforts around the Visual Studio Code plug-in show promise in replacing outgoing green screen functionalities.

Replacement tools are to be integrated into Rational Developer for i and Code for IBM i. Excitement surrounds potential new features for Code4i, including WYSIWYG editor, AI-powered dev tools, and support for COBOL. As IBM i developers seek modern solutions, Code4i gains traction as a viable alternative, aligning with the industry trend towards more user-friendly and efficient development tools.

AI

Help Contribute To IBM’s GenAI Code Assistant For RPG

Over a year ago we were just starting to have discussions about LLMs (ChatGPT). The discussion was more of a general one vs how it could be used in the IBM i community.

It’s hard to believe how far we have come in such as short time because there are now active roadmaps as to how AI tools can be developed for the IBM i and RPG community.

IBM is developing an AI code tool for RPG using its own Granite family of LLMs within the Watsonx stack.

What is IBM Granite?

a family of AI models tailored for business applications, offering high performance and scalability.

There are a number of different models within this family (Granite for Code, Granite for Language, Granite Time-Series, Granite GeoSpacial). The one that will be used by the IBM i community is Granite for Code.

It is designed to assist in enterprise-grade software development. It supports various coding tasks, such as bug fixing, code generation, code explanation, and code translation.

Here is where IBM needs help from the IBM i community.

To train this model, IBM is requesting a large amount of sample RPG code from the IBM i community. This is essential to ensure the code assistant can effectively generate new RPG code and translate existing RPG code to modern free form RPG. The tool aims to enhance coding efficiency and accuracy for IBM i platform developers.

If you are willing to help, you can learn more here.

Development

Improvements to RPG’s timestamps📈

Ever since timestamps were introduced to RPG, users have often found them lacking precision.

In a recent update with IBM i 7.4 TR2 and 7.3 TR8, RPG timestamps can now feature up to 12 decimal places, offering greater accuracy and flexibility.

This enhancement allows programmers to define timestamps of varying lengths, improving timestamp management within RPG programs.

The new capabilities include the unique *UNIQUE value option, ensuring each timestamp is distinct.

Overall, these advancements mark a significant improvement in RPG timestamp functionality, providing developers with more control and precision in timestamp handling.

Learn more here.

Hiring

RPG Programmers, Retirements and Modernization 👥

IT modernization projects are like a game of chess.

The fact that RPG and other legacy programmers continue to retire at a rapid pace makes this a hot topic in the IBM i (AS/400) and Mainframe communities.

So, how do IBM i shops deal with the linked technical and resource challenges of modernization?

I am not sure there is a clear-cut answer, but it is playing out before our eyes.

See some of the solutions here.

Leadership

Leadership matters in the IBM i community⭐

While this article is not written with the IBM i community in mind, a strong leader is crucial to the success of any IBM i shop.

Leading and managing a team of IBM i developers with different personalities and skills who are at different stages of their careers is not an easy task.

These 13 insights of how to lead and engage your team might be just what you are looking for.

Modernization

Strategies to Understand and Manage Technical Debt 💡

Technical debt, akin to neglecting a house, arises from short-term gains trading off long-term consequences. Left unchecked, it metastasizes, leading to spaghetti code, bugs, productivity dips, and loss of trust from the user community.

Sound familiar?

Here are 8 techniques that will help you manage technical debt.

Pay Down Your Technical Debt Before Implementing Gen AI🔧

Scaling Gen AI requires a solid foundation or it won’t work as expected.

Modernization is necessary, and technical debt is one of the biggest problems that needs to be solved.

A recent survey revealed that a significant percentage of companies are experiencing negative effects due to technical debt, such as data silos, resource diversion, and reduced effectiveness.

Legacy systems and technology debt pose ongoing challenges as outdated platforms require migration to newer technologies. Despite the costs involved, upgrading legacy systems is vital to keep pace with evolving technology demands and benefit from advancements like Gen AI.

💾 As noted above, in the Code Assistant for RPG story, LLMs, a form of Generative AI, can be used to help manage your technical debt.

In summary: Before you race to implement AI, you might want to consider your overall code base and how you can use AI coding tools to help you modernize.

Join

Contact us

If you are an RPG programmer looking to explore opportunities or a client who is looking for a talented IBM i professional, please contact us. We look forward to assisting you.

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