Pairing open source with traditional IBM i programs works great for APIs, web, and mobile applications. But how do you stay on top of your business’s requirements for speed and scalability?
OCEAN User Group recently asked Alan to help answer that question. In the recording of their November meeting (also linked from the graphic below), he covers:
A few years back I created the QShell on IBM i (QshOni) project to allow QShell/PASE (open source) apps to be more easily integrated and used with traditional IBM i job streams written in RPG and CL. Since then, many developers have adopted QshOni to utilize their open source apps in conjunction with their classic traditional apps.
Recently I added several new commands to QshOni to make living the PASE life even easier for RPG developers. Today’s focus will be on the QSHCALL command.
Earlier this week we shared how one of our clients successfully transitioned the maintenance of an important System 36-era application from busy RPG developers to a younger web developer interested in learning RPG. The heart of their strategy? Converting their fixed-format RPG code to more modular RPG Free Form.
At the same time, Susan Gantner was presenting a session on using free-form RPG with the clear message that moving to RPG Free Form is critical to bringing new talent to IBM i development.
Our client “Bruce” was discussing the RPG talent shortfall and how to get the next generation on board to write and maintain legacy RPG code dating back to the 1980s in a recent iChime meeting.
Bruce had a System 36 manufacturing application written in fixed-format RPG. The system was solid and users were satisfied. But Bruce knew that he had to modernize the code for ease of maintenance and to expand the developer talent pool for future applications.
Updated July 14, 2025
Our Twitter feeds recently rang out with this long-awaited news from Liam Allan:
“Debugging ILE COBOL and RPGLE inside @code like it’s any other day! I’m pumped for this release #ibmi.”
As reported by Alex Woodie in IBM i Debugger Comes to VS Code, IBM decoupled their RPG/COBOL debugger from RDi after years of encouragement from Liam. It’s now available as a Debug Service to the thousands of IBM i developers who have downloaded Visual Studio Code for IBM i. Read more →
When I told my friends I was learning RPGLE, they thought I had gone a bit crazy. Why would I want to learn that “old” programming language?
My quest stemmed from a common issue that I experienced first hand. As a web developer, I would often hear, “The business logic is located in RPG code and we don’t know what it does. We will have to wait and ask the RPG programmer to explain it to us before we can continue with the project, but that person is too busy now.”
Or worse yet, “We are completely redoing our ERP system because we can’t find RPG programmers.”
Visual Studio Code for IBM i recently acquired a series of enhancements that greatly enrich the RPGLE developer experience.
Known as Project Mode, the new features allow RPGLE developers to easily navigate their code — and understand it — all while editing remotely in the IDE. They can now find all references to definitions, find definitions of all references, and go to the implementation of export procedures without leaving the editor.
You may have heard about IBM’s new Merlin tools for modern RPG development methodology. But what is it, really, and how would it benefit your shop?
Seiden Group’s Jack Woehr, one of the top Merlin advocates in the country, will be presenting three talks on Merlin at COMMON NAViGATE on Oct. 4–5, 2022:
VS Code for IBM i makes IBM i a powerful environment for modern developers. Code for i supports development in RPGLE, COBOL, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Node.js and much more, while including a Db2 for i SQL interface and other powerful tools, and a community of forward-thinking developers and leaders.
Code for IBM i and its RPGLE language tools have come a long way! I am excited to share some of the language tools improvements with you today. They are absolutely worth talking about. Language tools are what makes writing code fun and exciting, and we can be better developers with them.