Who is using Code for IBM i?

[worksofliam]

Hey everyone 👋

I want to make sure I stay connected to our users, so if you're willing, please share with us how and what you're using Code for IBM i for by sharing answers to the following:

• Who you are
• What your role is
• How you are using Code for IBM i
• What industry you are working in
• Your company name (if you're allowed to share)

Also, feel free to provide feedback here and any issues you might have.

Thanks!

[worksofliam]

I will start!

• Who you are: A software developer
• What your role is: Writing a ton of Node.js code usually, otherwise writing new RPGLE and maintaining RPGLE and COBOL.
• How you are using Code for IBM i: Using it for all appdev for RPG, CL and COBOL. Compiling, viewing errors, writing new code, etc.
• What industry you are working in: I work in IT tools, banking, and logistics.
• Your company name: Works Of Barry

[cwoody1021]

• Who you are: Software developer
• What your role is: Write and maintain RPGLE code/sql/cl, System work and incident resolution support
• How you are using Code for IBM i: Coding rpgle/cl/sql. I have experience using RDI and RDI Concert in an environment with 15 developers sharing projects. My experience with RDI has been positive . My company is investigating VS / Code for Ibm i
as our main tool for development now and in the future. I use CS / Code for numerous daily tasks not specific to ibm i
• What industry you are working in: Vegetation Management (integrated vegetation management, storm restoration, and work planning services to railroad and utility companies and their communities across North America)
• Your company name: Wright Service Corp

[fastleap]

Who you are: Stuart Milligan
What your role is: Solutions Architect
How you are using Code for IBM i: RPGLE coding, compiling, demonstrating generated RPGLE.
What industry you are working in: Software Tools for IBM i
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Midrange Dynamics

[JWigh]

Who you are;: Johan
What your role is Systems developer
How you are using Code for IBM i: Trying to figure if we can use it as lightweight tool instead of Rdi and maybe migrate to it and start using GIT as code repository. Also looking into if we can make people to leave green screen.
What industry you are working in: Insurances in Sweden
Your company name (if you're allowed to share) LF

[dennisnel]

• Who you are: Software developer
• What your role is: Write and maintain RPGLE code
• How you are using Code for IBM i: Comparing it to RDi, we make extensive use of projects in RDi and git so I'm investigating how we could we could "migrate" to Code for IBM i
• What industry you are working in: Banking
• Your company name: absa

[tnrn9b]

Who you are: Software Engineer
What your role is: Write and design php/java/rpgle 
How you are using Code for IBM i: viewing and reviewing rpg as a replacement fro RDi
What industry you are working in: Logistics
Your company name: K3S

[BrianGarland]

Who you are: Software Developer
What your role is: Create new and maintain existing RPGLE applications (both green screen and web)
How you are using Code for IBM I: Viewing, editing, converting to free RPGLE. Only intermittent usage due to work tools being RDi based.
What industry you are working in: I work for an ISV with products for the beverage distribution industry
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Vermont Information Processing (VIP)

[thebeardedgeek]

Who you are: Power i Engineer
What your role is: I engineer solutions for customers on IBM i, mostly around hardware and administration but I work with software and open source technologies as much as I can. I also manage hosted and on-prem systems and many IBM i LPARs.
How you are using Code for IBM i: I use it mostly to write CL and CMD programs, review existing RPG code, work with the IFS objects, and to write open source code
What industry you are working in: Techonoly Solutions Industry
Your company name: CMA Technology Solutions

[chukShirley]

• Who you are: Software Developer
• What your role is: Maintain and develop ILE APIs
• How you are using Code for IBM i: I use it every day to make changes to the existing mostly RPG code base and develop new APIs. Currently I don't use the compile feature because I use a build script instead. But Code for IBM i has served as a nice replacement for SEU.
• What industry you are working in: logistics, purchasing, and/or procurement
• Your company name: K3S

[mtappeta]

• Who you are: Software developer
• What your role is: Write and maintain RPGLE code
• How you are using Code for IBM i: For appliction development using SQLRPGLE, CL, Compiling, To create quick customized compile commands, viewing compiler output, errors with easy navigation.
• What industry you are working in: Environmental services
• Your company name: Wright Service Corp

[richardschoen]

Who you are: Multiplatform software developer and automation expert
What your role is: I work with customers to automate business and other processes.
How you are using Code for IBM i: Mainly for editing IBM i source members. It's nice to work in one main editor: VS Code.
What industry you are working in: Business Process Automation and developing software utilities. I also offer a commercial Git client for IBM i developers. (http://www.iforgit.com)
Your company name: MobiGoGo LLC (http://www.mobigogo.net)

[AG1965]

Who you are: programmer
What your role is: develop all kinds of things on the IBM i in RPG, CL, PHP, ...
How you are using Code for IBM i: trying to use it as editor
What industry you are working in: IT services for banks
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): CPB Software

This is a incredible good extension, and one can already use it, although i sometimes have troubles to open source members on the i directly, but i can upload them from the local workspace which i can't understand. There is no job number/user/name visible to go and investigate like there is in ACS run sql scripts.
I'm looking forward for all the things to come!

[worksofliam]

Thanks for your extra comments! You should check the 'Code for IBM i' output tab after there is an error and raise an issue with the information in there!

[AG1965]

Thanks, when it (or something else strange) is happening, i'll take a look at that!

[martintosney]

Who you are:

Technical Specialist at an ISV

What your role is:

A bunch of different things. Setting coding standards and design patterns; offering education and news on IBM i stuff; code reviews; consulting on technical projects; improving development workflow; and, of course, some application design/development

How you are using Code for IBM i:

The IBM i hosts the backend of our application, which is primarily coded in RPG (with associated CL/DDS/SQL/etc.). We have several developers who have switched to using VS Code as their primary editor now, preferring it to RDi (or Sublime Text - one of our devs wrote a simple plugin to FTP source to/from the IBM i).

I personally use it very rarely, as I'm not actually doing a lot of RPG coding right now. However, I've been keenly following the progress of the extension since I got wind of it, quite early on in its life.

Our devs use it solely as an editor right now but I know we can do a lot more e.g. building a bridge to our change management system, so that we can issue compiles from within VS Code

What industry you are working in:

Financial services

Your company name:

FNZ

Feedback

I'm impressed at how quickly the extension has matured. You're an absolute machine, @worksofliam! I wish I had the time to contribute more.

[pabloto]

Who you are:
A software developer/IBM i administrator

What your role is:
Writing and maintaining RPGLE/SQLRPGLE

How you are using Code for IBM i:
Compiling, viewing errors, writing new code, etc., until now we are using SEU because Rational is expensive and doesn't work on Mac Big Sure

What industry you are working in:
Finance

Your company name:
Directa sim

Many thanks.

[Fish1]

Who you are: Software programmer thing

What your role is: Update CL, SQL, a little bit of RPG

How you are using Code for IBM i: Mostly only opening files so I can view them better.

What industry you are working in: Beverage Bottling/Canning

What company name: Polar Beverages

[Dman247]

Who you are: SWE

What your role is: Member of the business applications team; create/maintain apps written with RPG, CL, SQL, PHP, & Node.js

How you are using Code for IBM i: I am using this extension for all my editing needs w/ source located on the IBMi.

What industry you are working in: Beverage Industry (Manufacturing, Sales, & Distribution)

What company name: Polar Beverages

[WmARapp]

Who you are: Bill Rapp
What your role is: Technical Lead, trying to facilitate the modernization of our development.

How you are using Code for IBM i: We are using it for development, mostly RPG, CL and SQL with the Source Control/GitHub integration. Node.js, PHP and other languages in the near future.
Since PDM is dead and RDi isn't as well known/used as VSC. I see Code for IBM i as our main tool for development now and in the future
What industry you are working in: Vegetation Management (integrated vegetation management, storm restoration, and work planning services to railroad and utility companies and their communities across North America)
Your company name: Wright Service Corp

For the last contractor we brought onboard we provided VSC with Code for IBM i as the replacement for RDi.

[dancarlosgabriel]

Who you are: A software developer
What your role is: Freelance Developer, backend developer supporting Web App, coding RPGLE/SQL/Javascript snippets/Cobol/bit of C.
How you are using Code for IBM i: Using for viewing codes online/offline (client is using RDI/Backend still)
What industry you are working in: HCM Web App
Your company name: HCM

[NicholasLanders]

Who you are: Nicholas Landers
What your role is: Application support and development.
How you are using Code for IBM i: I am very new to the IBM i system as a whole. I am working with RPGLE and CLE generally, and learning alot along the way. I was shown this tool by a mentor of mine on my team. It has been very useful for the simple reason that in all my university classes I am accustomed to VS code, and this has made the transition very easy.
What industry you are working in: Utilities

[jwoehr]

Thanks for commenting, @NicholasLanders ... it certainly confirms something many of us in the IBM i community have felt for a long time, that modern development tools make entry to IBM i development much easier for folks.

[stevee-bee]

Who you are: Steve Balzer
What your role is: Data Analyst
How you are using Code for IBM i: currently as a read-only tool to avoid paging around in a green screen; eventually maintain and ultimately port some RPG to Python/dbt/SQL; also interested in applying Db2 for IBM i and IBM i Notebooks
What industry you are working in: insurance, agriculture
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation

[RolandStrauss]

Who you are: Roland Strauss
What your role is: DevOps Engineer
How you are using Code for IBM i: Daily development
What industry you are working in: Insurance
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Momentum Metropolitan

[ptkelly13]

• Who you are: Coder/AdminISHtrator/Support
• What your role is: Mainly CL and RPG stuff. I'm better at fixing things than creating them.
• How you are using Code for IBM i: Just getting started. Working on interweaving with git, github, ado, RDi, BOB and whatever else comes along.
• What industry you are working in: Support of multiple industries. I code utilities for i.
• Your company name: Kyndryl
  I loaded Code for IBM i in October. Had an issue with dots in lib name, and you fixed it in no time. Then Hurricane Ian hit. I'm just getting back to the tool. Doing POC stuff now with moving source to IFS, working with git and github. Your work is well appreciated.

[ThomasBarberot]

• Who you are: A software developer
• What your role is: Teaching how to develop RPGLE and CLLE programs for customer applications.
• How you are using Code for IBM i: Using it for all appdev for RPG. Compiling, viewing errors, writing new code, etc. I don't use it for CLLE, because I need to have the same command prompting as 5250 sessions or RDi.
• What industry you are working in: I work in IT services.
• Your company name: Kyndryl

[worksofliam]

Hey! Thanks for your reply. I want to make the CL experience better.

Have you tried the CL extension at all? Parameters and the parameters' special values do show in the content assist. Of course, if that isn't enough for you, I'd like to know what else we can do for you.

Thanks!

[ThomasBarberot]

Hi Liam.
Yes, I have tried it, but I am missing several things:

• the command prompt similar to SEU and RDi (in window) to see the parameters in the order of the command and not the alphabetical order and to see directly the complex compound parameters (for example, the TOPGMQ parameter of the SNDPGMMSG command)
• formatting of commands in the source to make automatic line breaks and capitalization of parameters (as proposed by RDi and after the prompt on SEU).
• The choice of the special values of the parameters does not work if I use control+space between the parenthesis of a parameter

[worksofliam]

@ThomasBarberot Thanks for your great feedback. I will take this and see what I can do.

The choice of the special values of the parameters does not work if I use control+space between the parenthesis of a parameter

Sounds like a bug as this should work. I recommend you raise an issue on the vscode-clle repo, but I will look into it in the mean time.

[Sdthedawson]

Who you are: Scotty Dawson
What your role is: Sr. Programmer/Analyst
How you are using Code for IBM i: Im fairly new to the i series so ive been using it side by side with RDI as i traverse this new world of tech.
What industry you are working in: Mortgage Lender

[jwoehr]

Hi Scotty! Good plan to use side by side. Much richer experience that way.

[Sdthedawson]

Theres a few features in RDI like X-Analysis that requires me to go back and forth but if i could id drop rdi in a heartbeat.
Ive been a C# dev for the last 9 years using VS so definitely more comfortable with it.
I did spend like 5 hours changing my color scheme in rdi to match VS lol.

[worksofliam]

@Sdthedawson I have heard from Fresche a while ago that they are working on the XA extension for VS Code. That would be awesome

[Sdthedawson]

@worksofliam I header the same thing recently too. Just haven't done any digging into it yet lol. Would mean i can drop rdi completely tho! fingers crossed

[Gregory1701]

Who you are: Gregory Simmons
What your role is: Software Engineer
How you are using Code for IBM i: Still new to it, but I see great potential!
What industry you are working in: Retail
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): P.C. Richard & Son

[GeorgeAtArborSolutions]

Who you are: George L. Slater
What your role is: IS Consultant
How you are using Code for IBM i: Reviewing it for use. Has features that make it more suitable for COBOL than RDi but it seems to lack stuff that I find mandatory. Still investigating to see if there is a way to account for those otherwise it won't work for me.
What industry you are working in: Any
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Arbor Solutions, Inc.

[ibmiiste]

Who you are: Olivier Drubigny
What your role is: Software developer, Scrum master
How you are using Code for IBM i: I do not use Code for IBM i yet but I want to test (vs RDI that sometimes grrr!!).
What industry you are working in: Energy Efficiency
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Ista

[BrianGodsend]

• Who you are: Brian Sleeth, software consultant/developer primally focused on IBM i development and integration
• What your role is: I work with my customers to maintain and extend their existing IBM i applications. I often bridge the gap between PC and IBM i development working to expose the IBM i data as well as integrate their applications with services from 3rd party partners. This often finds me working with PHP, HTML, Javascript, Node.js, and Java in addition to the traditional IBM i languages (CLLE, RPGLE, SQL, UIM, and C).
• How you are using Code for IBM i: With Code for IBM i, I am able to use a common development IDE (VS Code) for most of my application development (I also have a dedicated IDE for working with Mule projects). Code for IBM i supports the latest RPG language enhancements as well as **FREE format RPG in a light-weight easy to use and familiar environment (yes, familiar despite being a long-time SUE, PDM developer). As are result, Code for IBM i provides the tools to continue evolving my coding practices to take advantage of language enhancements, which in turn allows me to provides better solutions for my customers.
• What industry you are working in: Retail, Financial, Warehousing, Shipping Terminals; basically, wherever my customers take me.
• Your company name: Godsend Consulting

[hn000246]

Who you are: Mario Salgado
What your role is: RPGILE SQL Developer
How you are using Code for IBM i: As my developer tool instead RDI
What industry you are working in: Banking
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): NOVACOMP PANAMA

[smartrocks]

Who you are: David Keck
What your role is: IBM i Developer
How you are using Code for IBM i: My primary IDE, with RDi as secondary IDE for certain features.
What industry you are working in: Consumer Packaged Goods / Nutraceutical Manufacturer
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): Nestle Health Science USA

[NextPage66]

Who you are: Duane Sanders
What your role is: Systems Operations - Mainly IBM i (Maintenance/Dev/Data Analyst/anything else they can think of).
How you are using Code for IBM i: IDE for RPGLE, CLLE, DDS, SQL
What industry you are working in: ERP for Manufacturer
Your company name : Aromatique, Inc.

[Liscuri]

Who you are: Brayden
What your role is: Intern Software Developer
How you are using Code for IBM i: Recently finished a education to become a software developer. Followed a course on RPG and enjoyed it a lot. Learning more about it in the business world.
What industry you are working in: Software
Your company name (if you're allowed to share): /

[djurrep]

Who you are: Djurre Postma
What your role is: Software engineer
How you are using Code for IBM i: Mainly for RPG, DB2, REST-API development (for now).
What industry you are working in: Banking
Your company name: ABN Amro

In the middle of a modernisation push.
Developing REST-API interfaces with RPG back-end and Angular front-end for UIs.
Legacy backend system has been built in CA/2E (good old Synon/2E).

As far as I can judge, VSCode / Code for i works really very well for RPG free development with Git.
I'm quite impressed.

We spoke briefly in Milan at Common but you've probably met tons of people there.

Anyway, many thanks for all the brilliant stuff you're putting out.