3 ms·

This doesn't surprise me. Mainframes aren't just about never failing; they have a whole culture, including ops, around providing availability in ways that actua

by wmf 3y ago

This doesn't surprise me. Mainframes aren't just about never failing; they have a whole culture, including ops, around providing availability in ways that actually work.

pjmlp 3y ago
Starting by having systems programming languages that actually have proper strings, arrays and bounds checking.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- reverius42 3y ago
  What are some of those languages? I'm curious to learn more.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Several PL/I dialects e.g. PL/S and PL.8, BLISS, Modula-2, ESPOL/NEWP for example. Also Pascal and BASIC compilers with several extensions, e.g. VMS Pascal and VMS BASIC.
    - fanf2 3y ago
      BLISS is a typeless word-oriented language like BCPL, so I am surprised to see it in this list. Also I am amused to hear VAX/VMS described as a mainframe operating system.
      - pjmlp 3y ago
        Well, it had bounds checking. I always call them mainframes, regardless if the name is micro or whatever is the pedantic nomenclature.
        fanf2 3y ago
        Hmm, section 11.10 of http://wiki.parsec.com/openvms_archive/freewarev70/bliss/blslref.pdf http://wiki.parsec.com/openvms_archive/freewarev70/bliss/bls... says that the built-in vector type does not do bounds checking (tho there are examples illustrating how to define your own vector type that does check). The string handling functions in chapter 20 require the programmer to pass around separate pointer and length arguments, which is not what I would call proper strings.
tjalfi 3y ago
I've also heard of teams that shut down the mainframe for an hour during a time change. It's an easy way to avoid application issues for a small amount of downtime.
- nubinetwork 3y ago
  We used to do this on several hpux servers at $dayjob. However 95% of those servers have long since been decommissioned, and the remaining server didn't actually need it to begin with. (It was really anything that had an oddball database that needed it)
  - TylerE 3y ago
    If it runs Unix is isn't a mainframe. Only half joking.
    - nine_k 3y ago
      I would say it's 90% not joking. A mainframe has hardware different enough to require a different approach to the OS. Of course a modern variant of System 390 happily runs tons of Linux VMs.

by wmf 3y ago

This doesn't surprise me. Mainframes aren't just about never failing; they have a whole culture, including ops, around providing availability in ways that actually work.

pjmlp 3y ago

Starting by having systems programming languages that actually have proper strings, arrays and bounds checking.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
reverius42 3y ago
What are some of those languages? I'm curious to learn more.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  Several PL/I dialects e.g. PL/S and PL.8, BLISS, Modula-2, ESPOL/NEWP for example. Also Pascal and BASIC compilers with several extensions, e.g. VMS Pascal and VMS BASIC.
  - fanf2 3y ago
    BLISS is a typeless word-oriented language like BCPL, so I am surprised to see it in this list. Also I am amused to hear VAX/VMS described as a mainframe operating system.
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      Well, it had bounds checking. I always call them mainframes, regardless if the name is micro or whatever is the pedantic nomenclature.
      - fanf2 3y ago
        Hmm, section 11.10 of http://wiki.parsec.com/openvms_archive/freewarev70/bliss/blslref.pdf http://wiki.parsec.com/openvms_archive/freewarev70/bliss/bls... says that the built-in vector type does not do bounds checking (tho there are examples illustrating how to define your own vector type that does check). The string handling functions in chapter 20 require the programmer to pass around separate pointer and length arguments, which is not what I would call proper strings.

tjalfi 3y ago

I've also heard of teams that shut down the mainframe for an hour during a time change. It's an easy way to avoid application issues for a small amount of downtime.

nubinetwork 3y ago
We used to do this on several hpux servers at $dayjob. However 95% of those servers have long since been decommissioned, and the remaining server didn't actually need it to begin with. (It was really anything that had an oddball database that needed it)
- TylerE 3y ago
  If it runs Unix is isn't a mainframe. Only half joking.
  - nine_k 3y ago
    I would say it's 90% not joking. A mainframe has hardware different enough to require a different approach to the OS. Of course a modern variant of System 390 happily runs tons of Linux VMs.