The last of the Christmas presents have been opened, and all of the decorations have been taken down and stored away. At the beginning of a new year I always like to reflect on the old year, and look forwards to what is coming.
2019 was another exciting year for the IBM i community. A new release of the operating system became available to us. Accompanying the new release there were another two Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3, and the first TR for the new 7.4. These added all kinds of new and exciting features and functions to our favorite operating system, which I have written about in this web site.
The only way I can gauge what you, the readers of this blog, considered the most interesting posts I wrote last year is by looking at the most read. These were:
- IBM i version 7.4 is announced
- Time to download ACS
- Using SQL to check if a batch job is active
- Capturing system statistics using SQL
- Making copy a file to the IFS easier
If there is a post not listed above you found useful let me know which one and how you used the information within it in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
And now I turn from looking at the past, to the future. What will it bring for us this year in the IBM i world?
The following anniversaries will happen this year:
- 61st anniversary of the RPG programming language
- 32nd anniversary of the launch of the AS400, the esteemed ancestor of the IBM i operating system
- 25 years since the launch of RPGLE.
- 19 years of free form calculations in RPG
- 7 years of free form definitions in RPG
- 5 years for totally free form RPGM.
This year will also be the seventh birthday of this blog.
I am sure IBM will release two new Technology Refreshes this year, one in the spring and the other in the fall. Looking in my crystal ball I do not see a new release happening in 2020, so close to the release of 7.4 .
Let's all raise a glass of our favorite beverage and make a toast to give thanks for IBM i and all good things that happened last year. Then raise a second glass in anticipation of what this year will bring to us all.
The older I get (72!), the more excited I get about this work and this platform. 51 years since I started at IBM and 30 since I left. Love it still. My latest craze is delving into the world of the APIs. LFAP access?! What fun!
ReplyDeleteHello Simon and Happy New Year,
ReplyDeletea small correction: EOS for i 7.2 is April 20, 2021 per the following IBM announcement letter: https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/US-ENUS919-147-CA.
Greetings From Greece,
Nikos.
A happy New Year too.
DeleteThank you for letting me know my mistake. You are right I did not check my sources on this blog for the correct date. I have removed the paragraph you mentioned.