I write more lines of assembler per month now than I used to write in a year 10 to 15 years ago. I can't even think of an exit that I have not written code for at least a dozen times. I've written more interfaces for Java and C++ to "get" things from z/OS in the past 5 years than I really care to think about.
I have also seen literally many dozens (bordering on hundreds) of "systems programmers" that cringe in fear of even thinking of having to deal with anything written in assembler. Several of which, (but not many) I have sat down and taught how to at least understand how to read in interpret assembler code. With many others, I tried and failed to get them to accept that assembler is really just part of the job. Not even a big part, but it helps. Can you go your whole career as a systems programmer without writing any assembler code, sure you can. You can also go the whole time never installing z/OS. Many systems programmers, and I mean a lot of them, have zero concept of how to read a dump. Many of them "might" be able to use IPCS and follow a script to "find things" in a dump, but otherwise are completely lost. Setting up WLM properly and maintaining it? Many|most of them can't do that, and they figure they will just use Watson & Walker's set, or some other one they download from the internet. Capacity planning? "Why bother, just get a bigger box." is the attitude I see the most. Use RMF, "hell yeah, it makes some incredible graphs", (which they can't comprehend), but they are sure pretty. Even writing (and testing) ACS routines (which are extremely simple), is beyond many of them. Most couldn't code a REXX exec from scratch to save their lives. But these are the systems administrators we have now. (notice I said systems administrators, not systems programmers, because I think there is a (big) difference). I am very sorry to see the state of the current "systems programmers", but thinking back 15 to 20 years or so, it really wasn't any different. The same exact complaints from both sides about assembler and "real" systems programmer were exactly the same then as now. There have always been "systems administrators" who have the title "systems programmers" even though they have never "coded" a system program or routine in their career. All of this doesn't make them bad people, or even bad Systems Administrators, they just aren't as technical as some other systems programmers, and not everyone needs to be that technical. Everyone doesn't need to know assembler, but with an operation system that is made up of well over 300 million (OS/390 number) lines of PL/S generated assembler code, it sure helps. The world needs all kinds of systems people. Not all of us need to know assembler, but thankfully a lot of us do. Brian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
