What On Earth is a Mainframe? Paperback – August 18, 2008

Start with this book if you need to learn about mainframes! This was one of the best written technical books I have ever read. I just started a job that uses mainframes and had no idea what a mainframe was or where to start learning the basics. This book answered so many question and has helped me interface with my team members. It covers so many of the things you need to know and be able to talk to experienced mainframe programmers. operators, etc. Best of all this book was so easy to read. I would recommend this book to anyone new to mainframes or just interested in learning about mainframes.

In the description they clearly stated that it is a brief high-level introduction. As such, it is very good. But it is, indeed, a high-level introduction. I would prefer it to go a bit deeper but it does what it claims, so honest 5 stars there.Using the info from the book, already knowing what to look for, I was then able to scour the wikipedia for more details on various topics. So all in all, for me personally it was 20 bucks well spent.

Of course they would never have titled it "The Mainframe for Dummies", but that's really what it is, and it is a genuinely needed book. Too many books about the mainframe assume the reader already understands what is meant by terms like JCL or VSAM. That simply isn't the case; most people in technology careers have not been exposed to mainframe terms. Then, when they finally are, they are confronted by an avalanche of information. This book certainly does not go into depth, but it acts as a greatly needed first step into the world of big iron. You can read this book in a day, and once you are done you will understand what it means when someone fires up a 3270 session to check the abends on a CICS transaction. If you are ever faced with mainframes or mainframe programmers and you have no idea what either of them do then this book will serve as an excellent introduction.

Am trying to prep up for a job with mainframes in the mix. Found the book of some help, but expected a bit more depth and detail than it actually had to offer. If the reader had no mainframe exposure at ALL, it'll be of good value. I've been exposed to them to a small degree, and sat at CICS and TSO consoles myself, so was looking for maybe just a bit more than this particular book was intended for. Great for complete newbies, though.

This book does a great job of introducing the subject of mainframe computing with a great balance of software and hardware perspectives. In addition, the author successfully summarizes all of the concepts in later chapters, giving you a good feel for what you need to go back and review.For someone in the IT world that does not interface much with mainframes, this book is a great way to go from zero to sixty in a weekend.

i worked in an IBM Mainframe shop for 3 years 1979-1982. This book really gives you insight into mainframes. I am amazed that software written in the 60's & 70's is still running,e.g., IMS, CICS. Very good book for the mainframe beginner or lay person who wants to understand Mainframe environment. The author did an excellent job defining the environment as it was , and is now Z 990 OS.

Removes some the "fear" factor when confronted with an IBM mainframe, and learning that its storage capacity and value to the corporation exceeds all the PC's in the rest of the organization! Yipes! Did I just write that?Not a class of computing that is growing by number of organizations adopting the architecture, but certainly explains the immense amount of time and money that has gone into amassing the data farms that all mature companies use.

This book doesn't claim to be a thorough deep dive into the mainframe, so I can't knock it for its levity. It does, however, claim to be a book that anyone can pick up, and that's not exactly true. While I don't have a computer science background, I've been around IT, technology, and programming for over 5 years - just the nature of my job - and even I was confused here and there. I'd recommend it to anyone who needs an overview of mainframe architecture and the people involved with running it.

Very good book

D'un style léger et attrayant, une introduction rapide mais efficace au monde et au vocabulaire du mainframe. Ayant commencé à programmer sur des systèmes modernes je ne connaissais que très peu cet univers, et le livre m'a donné un bon aperçu!

I've started working in mainframe from a knowledge base of basically 0%. With so much to learn so quickly, I knew I couldn't rely solely on the IBM redbooks or the Interskills online training, because I'd quickly become overwhelmed by the information. This book has proven a great addition to break up my training, a light-hearted and high level introduction to many of the key areas of working on the big iron. A few tenured colleagues have also looked through it, and appreciate its ability to help them explain certain parts of the system to clients who are outside of the department.Here's hoping there's a v2 as LinuxOne creates a raft of new mainframe users, but for most current technologies its a great book to have on the shelf!

Dieses Buch hat im englischensprachigen Amazon schon einige sehr gute Bewertungen erhalten, hier fehlt sie bislang noch. Da ich das Buch in kurzer Zeit regelrecht verschlungen habe, verdient es eine angemessene Rezension (auch für alle, die ggf. Vorbehalte haben, ein englischsprachiges Buch zu kaufen).Ich bin seit einem Jahr beruflich mit dem Thema Mainframe als Manager konfrontiert und hatte vorher nur sehr lang zurückliegende, rudimentäre Erfahrungen im z/VSE-Bereich. Daher war ich mit der Terminologie der Fachleute im Enterprise-Business (insbesondere z/OS-Umgebungen) teilweise überfordert und wollte mir die wichtigsten Grundlagen komprimiert anlesen.Und genau dafür ist dieses Buch eine sehr gute Wahl: Nach einer kurzen Einleitung (siehe Leseprobe unter "Blick ins Buch") werden Hardwarekomponenten, z/OS-Bestandteile, Netzwerk (SNA, TCP/IP), Application Development und vieles mehr erläutert. Dabei verzichtet der Autor bei den Erklärungen auf das, sonst bei Informatikern gerne übliche Fachchinesich (ein Fremdwort wird mit drei anderen erklärt...), sondern bringt anschauliche und kurzweilige Beispiele die jeder nachvollziehen kann.An vielen Stellen hatte ich tatsächlich einige Aha-Effekte und hätte mir gewünscht, dieses Buch schon viel früher gefunden bzw. bestellt zu haben. Viele Gespräche aus meinem beruflichen Kontext kann ich jetzt wesentlich besser nachvollziehen und verstehen.Das Buch ist auf dem technischen Stand von 2008. Da die Mainframetechnologie in ihrer Gesamtheit aber weitgehend stabil ist, habe ich kaum aktuelle Hard- oder Softwarebestandteile vermisst (wenn mal mal von solchen Themen wie IDAA oder Hochverfügbarkeitslösungen absieht).Eine komprimierte Zusammenfassung am Ende des Buches sowie ein umfangreiches und brauchbares Glossar runden dieses Buch ab.Wer als Neueinsteiger schnell in das Gesamtthema IBM Mainframe einsteigen will und schnelle Ergebnisse braucht, sollte auf dieses Buch nicht verzichten. Es ist kein besonders fortgeschrittenes Englisch erforderlich, gute und etwas erweiterte Schulkenntnisse reichen völlig aus. Wenn man dann noch einen Grundstock an IT-Wortschatz mitbringt, wird man mit diesem Buch seine wahre Freude haben.Mit hat es sehr viel gebracht, nicht viel Geld gekostet und meinen beruflichen Horizont erweitert. Daher: verdiente fünf Sterne!PS: Abwicklung und Versand - wie immer bei Amazon - Top! Da braucht man gar nicht viele Wort verlieren.

Libro totalmente recomendado para aquellos que quieran iniciarse en el mundode los mainframes. No es muy profundo, pero para iniciarse en este mundillo es correcto. Esa es la idea.