Murach Publishes Murach's Mainframe COBOL

Book Addresses Mainframe Topics

Fresno, CA - August 25, 2004 - Today, 90% of all COBOL is running on IBM mainframes. So a new book entitled Murach's Mainframe COBOL ( www.murach.com) is the training and reference guide for today's COBOL programmer. Published by longtime computer book publisher Mike Murach & Associates, this book focuses on the COBOL skills needed in IBM mainframe shops.

The book begins by teaching how to develop programs using standard COBOL. That includes coverage of the structured programming techniques for design, coding, and testing that are standard in large enterprise shops.

In the process, the trainee moves from building simple one-level report programs to designing and coding programs that create and maintain sequential and indexed files, produce multi-level reports, load and search tables, manipulate string data, handle carryover code from Y2K maintenance, sort and merge files, and take advantage of an installation's copy and subprogram libraries.

As each topic is presented, this book covers any specific considerations for coding on a mainframe. Then, the last section of the book gives a wider view of the IBM mainframe environment:

• the basic characteristics of mainframe systems
• the OS/390 and z/OS operating systems and their facilities
• how to use ISPF and JCL to develop programs
• how to use the AMS utility to work with VSAM files
• how to use CICS to develop interactive programs
• how to use DB2 to develop database programs

And because so many new COBOL hires start off by maintaining old programs, this section also has a chapter on the kind of code they're most likely to run into and how to handle maintenance tasks in a professional way.

The coding examples and complete programs throughout the book help programmers see how to apply what they're learning to business problems. And Murach's "paired pages" format, with essential details and coding examples on the right page and extra perspective on the left, makes the book easy to use as a quick reference, as well as a training manual.

About Murach

If you're looking for practical, job-oriented computer books that are guaranteed to work for you, Mike Murach & Associates is the right place to look. Since 1974, our books have been teaching people to be productive with new software right away. In fact, customers tell us they owe their career success to our books! So browse through our site, and see what our books can do for YOU.

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