Four Hundred Monitor, January 24
January 24, 2018 Dan Burger
This week, Monitor connects you with an article that covers the latest version of RDi, IBM’s tool of choice for modern application development. Don’t miss the 60-day trial download from IBM.
Also within reach are articles about an open source integrated development environment for IBM i created by the energetic and community-minded Liam Allan; today’s artificial intelligence reality and tomorrow’s expectations as an IT workhorse; and IBM’s haul of patents in 2017 that are well represented by AI intellectual property. Also look for the latest IBM i Marketplace Survey in the Resources section. Plus, updates to the events calendar worth adding to your schedule.
Top Stories From Outside The Jungle
(iDevelop) RDi users have an updated V9.6 with some cool capabilities: improvements to hover text, new annotation support, a merge capability for the compare facility and new behavior options for the enter and tab keys. Users of code coverage, ACS and iProjects will also find some new features and options. If you are not an RDi user, this is a fine time to become one.
(MCPress) Have you ever wished for a more lightweight integrated development environment (IDE) for IBM i? Liam Allan had that wish and it led to him building ILEditor a few years ago. It was recently updated. It’s open source, supports development with any ILE languages, including CL, RPG, COBOL, C, or C++.
(InformationWeek) Despite a flood of publicity and product announcements related to artificial intelligence, it seems that few enterprises have adopted the technology. But experts expect it to increase very rapidly. After all, the tech giants are leading the charge and they have invested heavily in research and recruiting talent with AI skills.
(CBR) IBM gained 1,400 patents in artificial intelligence during 2017. The industry giant has also broken through 100,000 total patents, topping 105,000 in the US alone between 1993 and 2017. Nearly half of IBM’s patents are advancements in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, blockchain and quantum computing, according to IBM Chairman Ginni Rometty.
Redbooks, White Papers, and Other Resources
(HelpSystems) The annual IBM i Marketplace Survey is one of the most cited references for data about the IBM i installed base. It measures Power System hardware releases, operating system releases, user concerns, development preferences, and many additional metrics. The 2018 report features data collected in late 2017.
(CEF) The COMMON Education Foundation (CEF) has added a new video library containing live-session recordings from COMMON Conferences and webcasts. Business development and technical development topics, presented by respected authorities, are included in the new library, which is available 24×7.
(Seiden Group) The Git trend makes perfect sense as IBM i teams adopt languages such as PHP, JavaScript, and Python to develop Web user interfaces, APIs, and other functionality. That said, Git also supports the traditional IBM i language, RPG.
(Profound Logic) This survey of the IBM i community is focused on modernization projects completed and projected. Among its findings are that more businesses have upgraded to the latest versions of IBM i and RPG compared to last year and that companies remaining on the platform are embracing options to optimize IBM i for their modern enterprise. There’s plenty here to discover and discuss.
(IBM) Full IBM support for i 7.1 will cease in April. Will you be upgrading to 7.2 or 7.3? Read the official 7.1 withdrawal announcement from IBM and check out the information on OS upgrades that is available here.
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
January 25 – Webinar – Technology can automate much of the modernization process, but organizations need to think about the future when making application development decisions. In this online session, IBM i experts Greg Patterson and Nick Hampson will discuss options for creating modern Web and mobile applications. Among the topics that will be examined are: the paradigm shift of green-screen to GUI development; practical examples for starting a project; and integrating IBM i applications with other systems, new applications and modern technologies. The presentation begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
January 25 –Webinar – Traditional IBM i development languages, like RPG, CL, DDS or even COBOL can be integrated into the continuous development workflows used by open systems teams using Jenkins, Git and JIRA. This session will discuss bringing disparate teams into sync, using the same tools and delivering changes together. It will include insights into the challenges and the capabilities to automate tasks. The presentation begins at noon Eastern Time.
January 31 — Markham, Ontario, Canada – Web development expert John Valence will discuss IBM i SQL stored procedures and application modernization at a 5 p.m. session during the monthly meeting of the Toronto User Group. During a second session, Valence will discuss Web application development with PHP, HTML and CSS. The meeting will take place at the Savoy Conference Center located in the Monte Carlo Inn at 7255 Warden Avenue.
March 13 -15 — Delavan, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association Spring Technical Conference is the largest conference in the Midwest. It features more than 50 informative presentations on current topics such as SQL, PHP, RPG, .NET and IBM administration. The tech conference includes a vendor expo and is hosted by the Lake Lawn Resort.
March 19-22 — Las Vegas, Nevada – Think 2018 is a new IBM conference that highlights topics such as IT transitions to the cloud, data and analytics, application development, IBM research, the Internet of Things, IT infrastructure, mobile, security, collaboration, and Watson. Programs available for C-level executives, IT managers, developers, and academics.
March 20-22 — Dallas, Texas – The twice-a-year, spring and fall, RPG & DB2 Summit returns to the Southwest for its next technical conference with an agenda of in-depth sessions that covers new and traditional topics. In addition to the three-day Summit, an optional fourth day of hands-on workshops provide intensive education into popular IBM i development technologies.
April 23-25 – Framingham, Massachusetts – The Northeast IBM i User Group Conference features more than 70 educational sessions in seven skills categories. It offers the opportunity to learn about new technologies, engage with vendors to discuss packaged software advancements, hear IBM i executives and lead developers discuss products and roadmaps for the platform, and gain knowledge that can benefit your company and your career. The user groups that combine to organize this conference come from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
May 20-23 — San Antonio, Texas – PowerUp 18 (formerly the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition) is the largest IBM i educational event of the year. It includes more than 300 sessions related to IBM i, as well as AIX and Linux. Open source, high availability, security, DB2, and application development are a few of the popular skill-building topics. The agenda includes all-day pre-conference workshops, open labs, and a wide variety of lecture-type sessions presented by subject matter experts. Pre-conference workshops (May 19) are also planned. An early registration discount ($1,695 for members; $1,995 for non-members) is available through December 31.
