Application Development with Software Defined Mainframe
With LzLabs Software Defined Mainframe®, the process of developing mainframe applications can be identical to the development of any other application within your business.
Modern Development Tools
Once mainframe programs, and any of their dependencies, run on Linux environments, they can be managed using the full range of tools and technologies found in modern development pipelines. Often called “DevOps ToolChains”, these technologies include graphical code-editors such as Eclipse with its range of plug-ins, testing tools, source-code management, containers & container repositories, continuous integration and deployment platforms. In effect, mainframe development is now the same proposition as all other development models within your business.
Containerization
LzLabs has developed a set of libraries, built upon the solid foundation of Linux and other popular open-source projects, which behave the same way as the proprietary environment of the mainframe. Consequently, a mainframe application and any of its dependencies can now be containerized in exactly the same way as any other modern application. This simple ability ensures that a workstation or commodity server can virtualise a mainframe environment, dramatically enhancing test speed and efficiency.
Continuous Integration & Testing
One challenge in mainframe development is testing. In modern environments, automated development pipelines continuously integrate changes across an application portfolio and subjects those changes to a myriad of tests – automatically and in many cases hundred of times a day. LzSDM eliminates any dependencies the application under development may have had on a mainframe, it remains entirely in the Linux environment from inception to deployment. Development of mainframe applications can now enjoy the exact same testing freedom as other Linux applications.
LLVM Compilers
LzLabs has developed a set of compilers for PL/1 and COBOL, which produce highly optimized object code leveraging the power of LLVM, and include support for mainframe datatypes and command-level references to LzOnline, LzHierarchical and LzRelational. Additionally, a set of plug-ins for Eclipse include step-through debugging based on the LLDB component of LLVM, ensuring the development experience for COBOL and PL/1 now matches that of more modern languages.
