UPDATED 11/18/2025
VS Code for IBM i offers an alternative to RDi, the fee-based graphical IDE for IBM i, and SEU, the native green-screen IDE. It’s faster than RDi and easier to learn than either RDi or SEU. It supports development in RPGLE, COBOL, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Node.js, etc.
(Co-written with Alan Seiden)
FastCGI speeds up web applications by pre-starting and managing jobs for popular languages such as PHP. FastCGI can be configured to handle any language that supports the FastCGI interface, as shown in this FastCGI configuration for node.js. When it comes to PHP, you can trust tools such as Seiden PHP+ siteadd to set good FastCGI defaults. You can also customize fastcgi.conf to accommodate higher traffic, multiple environments, and to solve problems. Read on as we explain how FastCGI works and how to configure it.
We’ve been hearing from clients wondering whether they need commercial connectors to integrate open source technology with Db2, RPG, and COBOL data.
Liam Allan has shown the power of using open source tools that are available to everyone. He recommends accessing IBM i business logic and data using open source tools, without proprietary connectors.
This guide will outline writing your first Node.js application. Node.js is a packaged version of the V8 Javascript engine, created by Google and shipped in Chromium. Although Node.js is cross-platform, specific tips for IBM i are given in section 8.
If recent customer requests for Git training are any indication, this popular, free, open source tool for managing source code is gaining momentum and will soon be mainstream on IBM i.
When you browse a secure web site or API whose address starts with “https,” what makes the site secure? The site uses a special certificate, provided by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), to prove that it is legitimate. Until recently, IT shops had to pay for these certificates and generate them manually.
In the last few years, Let’s Encrypt has earned the thanks of technology professionals. Let’s Encrypt, a CA run for the public’s benefit, offers certificates at no charge, along with scripts to generate and regenerate certificates as needed, reducing the effort of keeping certificates up to date, and keeping sites secure.
To manage Node.js application processes in production on IBM i, we recommend PM2 Runtime. As stated in PM2’s official documentation, PM2 “…allows you to keep applications alive forever, to reload them without downtime and facilitate common DevOps tasks.”
With IBM’s delivery of open source capabilities on IBM i, Seiden Group has been there to apply the technology to application modernization initiatives. Starting with PHP and the PHP toolkit, then Python, and now Node.js and Ruby, we’ve worked with IBM and customers to flesh out the capabilities of the technology, teach best practices at conferences and directly with clients, and develop award-winning solutions.
Presentation HandoutThe ever-expanding capabilities of Db2 for i can simplify development in open source languages such as PHP, Ruby, Node.js (JavaScript), and Python. These languages, known for their effectiveness in building web and mobile applications, can tap into the power of SQL.
So why complicate them with repetitive code that distracts from their power and simplicity?