4 ms·

Sounds like the cheapest way of upgrading hardware for the IRS is to write an emulator that can understand IMF assembler and stick it in a virtualised environme

Sounds like the cheapest way of upgrading hardware for the IRS is to write an emulator that can understand IMF assembler and stick it in a virtualised environment. Given the server it is running on is now underpowered, a medium sized server could handle what it does at a fraction of the cost.

kalleboo 10y ago
The article says it's already running on modern IBM mainframes. > "While they’ve upgraded the hardware to more modern IBM mainframes, those mainframes are still running vintage assembly." This is one reason IBM is still popular - their modern mainframes are backwards-compatible with 50-year old software. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_z https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_z > The System z family maintains full backward compatibility. In effect, current systems are the direct, lineal descendants of System/360, announced in 1964, and the System/370 from the 1970s. Many applications written for these systems can still run unmodified on the newest System z over five decades later
- chris_wot 10y ago
  Is there a reason for them to upgrade this system to newer languages?
  - pjmlp 10y ago
    Yes, to bring modern software to those platforms. All IBM mainframes support C, C++ and Java in addition to the platform original languages.
    - chris_wot 10y ago
      That's not really a reason with a business case attached. That's just "these other languages are modern, use them instead!".
      - pjmlp 10y ago
        No, it is the other way around and it surely has a business case. Instead of throwing out the investment done in years in the mainframe hardware, because juniors cannot grasp old technologies or don't feel like using them, bring them into the mainframe, while keeping the investment into the existing working stack. Instead of writing a REST API in RPG, which doesn't know anything about Web APIs, used to create the customer support application, make use of JEE/Spring instead to provide a SOAP/REST API. Just a possible business case, that is actually used in production for Java applications on IBM mainframes.
    - kwhitefoot 10y ago
      There is nothing especially modern about C, C++, and Java.
      - pjmlp 10y ago
        C for sure isn't modern, never was, given ESPOL and NEWP in the 60's. But it surely feels modern when compared against COBOL and RPG. On the other hand, C++ and Java are quite modern for the overall mainframe mindset.
  - kalleboo 10y ago
    To be able to hire cheaper talent. There are a million college graduates who can churn out good-enough Java out there. Good Assembler programmers who are willing to learn the quirks of an obscure platform might be able to find higher-paying jobs.
- ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
  Mainframes, the last remaining physical product sold by IBM?

kalleboo 10y ago

The article says it's already running on modern IBM mainframes. > "While they’ve upgraded the hardware to more modern IBM mainframes, those mainframes are still running vintage assembly." This is one reason IBM is still popular - their modern mainframes are backwards-compatible with 50-year old software. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_z https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_z > The System z family maintains full backward compatibility. In effect, current systems are the direct, lineal descendants of System/360, announced in 1964, and the System/370 from the 1970s. Many applications written for these systems can still run unmodified on the newest System z over five decades later

chris_wot 10y ago
Is there a reason for them to upgrade this system to newer languages?
- pjmlp 10y ago
  Yes, to bring modern software to those platforms. All IBM mainframes support C, C++ and Java in addition to the platform original languages.
  - chris_wot 10y ago
    That's not really a reason with a business case attached. That's just "these other languages are modern, use them instead!".
    - pjmlp 10y ago
      No, it is the other way around and it surely has a business case. Instead of throwing out the investment done in years in the mainframe hardware, because juniors cannot grasp old technologies or don't feel like using them, bring them into the mainframe, while keeping the investment into the existing working stack. Instead of writing a REST API in RPG, which doesn't know anything about Web APIs, used to create the customer support application, make use of JEE/Spring instead to provide a SOAP/REST API. Just a possible business case, that is actually used in production for Java applications on IBM mainframes.
  - kwhitefoot 10y ago
    There is nothing especially modern about C, C++, and Java.
    - pjmlp 10y ago
      C for sure isn't modern, never was, given ESPOL and NEWP in the 60's. But it surely feels modern when compared against COBOL and RPG. On the other hand, C++ and Java are quite modern for the overall mainframe mindset.
- kalleboo 10y ago
  To be able to hire cheaper talent. There are a million college graduates who can churn out good-enough Java out there. Good Assembler programmers who are willing to learn the quirks of an obscure platform might be able to find higher-paying jobs.
ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
Mainframes, the last remaining physical product sold by IBM?