Happy New Year 2024

Another year has passed and we all look forward into the New Year, 2024, with excitement thinking of all the good things it can bring to us all.

Before I put the old year out of mind, what did it bring us in the IBM i world?

• After seven years the end of regular support of IBM i 7.3
• Ten years after its announcement the end of service for IBM Power8 servers
• Two new Technology Refreshes for 7.4 and 7.5

What did you find the most interesting last year? These were the top ten popular posts from last year:

1. Changes to the RPG Select operation code
2. Mass insert into IFS file using IFS_WRITE
3. Easy way in SQL to insert records from one file that are not in the other
4. Retrieving data from a JSON array with SQL
5. Creating a User Index with SQL
6. Remove the need for procedure prototypes
7. Getting an accurate count of characters in a variable RPG
8. Procedure parameter option to convert data type
9. Use new RPG BiFs to see if input parameter was passed
10. Finding all the fields that contain certain characters

If you have any favorite posts I wrote last year, that is not one of the above, please post a link to them in the comments below. I am really interested in how you use my work.

IMHO what will happen in the IBM i world in 2024?

I don't think a new release will be announced this year.

There will be two new Technology Refreshes, of course, one in the Spring and the other in the Fall.

There are a number of anniversaries this year:

• 65 years:  First iteration of the RPG programming language
• 36 years:  AS/400 server and OS/400 operating system
• 29 years:  RPGLE (ILE RPG) programming language
• 23 years:  Free form calculations only in RPG
• 11 years:  Free form definitions in RPG
• 9 years:  Modern (Totally free form) RPG.

And it will be the eleventh year of this blog.

Finally, let's all raise a glass of our favorite beverage and toast the New Year and all the exciting things it will bring us.

Happy New Year to everyone!