While much-maligned, what JCL (and software like CLISTs and REXX for interactive processing) brings to the table in the mainframe world is a STANDARD way for pr

While much-maligned, what JCL (and software like CLISTs and REXX for interactive processing) brings to the table in the mainframe world is a STANDARD way for programmers to not only decouple code and the data resources the code will process, but also a wealth of other functionality, including job accounting, priority, job classes, network routing of jobs & resources, conditional execution, run-time library management, resource caps, output management, catalog management & file disposition, real temporary files, file versioning (GDGs), storage & device management including tape, procedures, includes, symbolic variables, checkpoint restarts, etc.). In non-mainframe realms, while the good news is that there's no JCL, the bad news is that individuals and companies have pretty much reinvented the JCL wheel over and over again, creating their own hodgepodge of unique, non-standard efforts to deliver smidgeons of similar functionality hacked together from a mix of shell scripting, environment variables, YAML, JSON, other config files, manual prompting, third-party libraries and software, and even hard-coding resources in programs. Grass is always greener, as they say. :-) https://www-40.ibm.com/servers/resourcelink/svc00100.nsf/pages/zOSV2R3sa231386?OpenDocument https://www-40.ibm.com/servers/resourcelink/svc00100.nsf/pag...