This IBM® Redbooks® publication covers the background and implementation of the IBM CICS® asynchronous API, which is a simple, accessible API that is designed to enable CICS application developers to create efficient asynchronous programs in all CICS-supported languages. Using the API, application developers can eliminate the overhead that is involved in coding and managing homegrown asynchronous solutions, instead using a set of CICS-supported API commands to underpin CICS applications, which are more responsive and robust than ever. Initially, the book reviews the history and motivations of asynchronous processing in computing and the benefits involved when calling external services. It then introduces the asynchronous API itself and its commands. It also provides a range of scenarios, including sample code, that cover everything from the basics of making an asynchronous request to updating existing synchronous program calls, with the goal of illustrating how to harness the CICS asynchronous API to solve real business problems. Later chapters take a deeper dive into the capabilities of the asynchronous API for advanced use cases. Beyond application development, CICS provides a complete solution for system programmers to manage and monitor asynchronous business logic. Thus, the final chapters of this book cover enhancements to CICS monitoring, statistics, trace, and dumps. Using supporting CICS tooling, system programmers have greater insight than ever, with improved transaction tracking capabilities and CICS policies to provide maximum control and optimization of asynchronous processing in CICS environments.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication discusses practical uses of the IBM CICS asynchronous API capability. It describes the methodology, design and thought process used by a large client, Walmart, and the considerations of the choices made. The Redbooks publication provides real life examples and application patterns that benefit from the performance and scalability offered by the new API. The book discusses the homegrown methodology used by Walmart before the API was available and compares it with the design using the new API. A discussion of the process used to migrate older applications to begin using the new API is included so the reader will understand the ease of implementing the new API. A description of real world usage patterns describes the current production application Walmart has deployed as well as other patterns to give the reader a sense of what's possible applying creative thinking with technology improvements. Finally, a section is included on the areas to be considered as you begin to plan and implement asynchronous API capabilities. This book should be read by: Enterprise Architects searching for faster ways to service strategic applications across the enterprise. Solution Architects who want to better understand implementation possibilities for improved response times and better performance for CICS applications. CICS programmers looking to modernize and provide improved response times. This book is meant to be used in tandem with IBM Redbooks publication IBM CICS Asynchronous API: Concurrent Processing Made Simple, SG24-8411, which will provide the background and implementation instructions and commands for the API itself.

IBM® CICS® is a mixed language application server that runs on IBM Z®. Over the 50 years since CICS was introduced in 1969, enterprises have used the qualities of service (QoSs) that CICS provides to allow them to create high throughput and secure transactional applications that have powered their business. As the IT landscape has evolved, so has CICS to allow these applications to integrate with new platforms and still provide value to the rest of the business. Because of this capability, many businesses still rely on CICS to power their core applications. This IBM Redpaper publication focuses on modernizing these CICS applications, allowing them to integrate with cloud-native applications. This modernization can be achieved either by constructing application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow new cloud-native applications to connect to your existing assets, rewriting parts of your application in newer languages and hosting them back on CICS, or by using CICS capabilities to extend your applications to provide new capabilities and functions. The paper takes a traditional example application and shows you how it works. Then, the paper extends the example, rewrites portions of its functions, and enables its APIs. It also explains how CICS applications can use continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to deliver, test, and deploy code into CICS easily and with quality.

This IBM Redbooks® publication gives a broad understanding of several important concepts that are used when describing IBM CICS Transaction Server (TS) for IBM z/OS (CICS TS) performance. This publication also describes many of the significant performance improvements that can be realized by upgrading your environment to the most recent release of CICS TS. This book targets the following audience: Systems Architects wanting to understand the performance characteristics and capabilities of a specific CICS TS release. Capacity Planners and Performance Analysts wanting to understand how an upgrade to the latest release of CICS TS affects their environment. Application Developers wanting to design and code highly optimized applications for deployment into a CICS TS environment. This book covers the following topics: A description of the factors that are involved in the interaction between IBM z® Systems hardware and a z/OS software environment. A definition of key terminology that is used when describing the results of CICS TS performance benchmarks. A presentation of how to collect the required data (and the methodology used) when applying Large Scale Performance Reference (LSPR) capacity information to a CICS workload in your environment. An outline of the techniques that are applied by the CICS TS performance team to achieve consistent and accurate performance benchmark results. High-level descriptions of several key workloads that are used to determine the performance characteristics of a CICS TS release. An introduction to the open transaction environment and task control block (TCB) management logic in CICS TS, including a reference that describes how several configuration attributes combine to affect the behavior of the CICS TS dispatcher. Detailed information that relates to changes in performance characteristics between successive CICS TS releases, covering comparisons that relate to CICS TS V4.2, V5.1, V5.2, V5.3, V5.4, and V5.5. The results of several small performance studies to determine the cost of using a specific CICS functional area.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication focuses on developing Web service applications in IBM CICS®. It takes the broad view of developing and modernizing CICS applications for XML, Web services, SOAP, and SOA support, and lays out a reference architecture for developing these kinds of applications. We start by discussing Web services in general, then review how CICS implements Web services. We offer an overview of different development approaches: bottom-up, top-down, and meet-in-the-middle. We then look at how you would go about exposing a CICS application as a Web service provider, again looking at the different approaches. The book then steps through the process of creating a CICS Web service requester. We follow this by looking at CICS application aggregation (including 3270 applications) with IBM Rational® Application Developer for IBM System z® and how to implement CICS Web Services using CICS Cloud technology. The first part is concluded with hints and tips to help you when implementing this technology. Part two of this publication provides performance figures for a basic Web service. We investigate some common variables and examine their effects on the performance of CICS as both a requester and provider of Web services.

It's easy to look at the title of a book and think "that's old news" or "I already know all there is to know on that subject." But before you dismiss this publication, consider just how far the IBM® Parallel Sysplex® architecture has come. From the early days the mainframe has embraced a shared everything approach. The original designers coded IBM z/OS® (called IBM MVSTM or IBM OS/390® back then) with the functionality necessary for the operating system to create the repositories, manage the data flow, and ensure the integrity of the systems involved. From there, the middleware systems provided the exploitation and advanced functions to mature the technology. The component in the middle of all this great technology can easily be taken for granted. That is the IBM Coupling Facility. This IBM Redbooks® publication discusses both traditional uses for the IBM Coupling Facility technology and new ways to use it with products such as IBM CICS®. You can learn how to perform new functions and have these functions benefit from the scalability and availability achieved only in a mainframe ecosystem. Open standards are a large part of considerations today, as most companies run IT shops with a mix of technology components. As the world embraces these technologies, it is necessary to understand how to mix the world of mainframe architectures and products with other open architectures. This mix allows the best tool to be used to solve processing needs, at the right cost and service levels. Often the functions needed for modern processing can be found in house, in places where staff are skilled and that already deliver the robust production environments you count on daily. This book discusses these modern functions and how to achieve them with CICS use of the IBM Coupling Facility. You will learn how one IBM client, Walmart, took these concepts far beyond the original design as they share their experiences and even share code examples to help you get started. The last chapter of this book shows what can be achieved when a combination of old and new functions are use together. Even if you have familiarity with what could be done with the IBM Coupling Facility in the past, there is much to learn and deploy in a modern world. Those who are familiar with the IBM Coupling Facility might find the content of this book helpful. Additionally, readers who are considering how to use the IBM Coupling Facility technology within their environment might also find useful information in the chapters that follow

This IBM® Redbooks® publication describes the new channels and containers support in IBM Customer Information Control System (CICS®) Transaction Server V5.2. The book begins with an overview of the techniques used to pass data between applications running in CICS. This book describes the constraints that these data techniques might be subject to, and how a channels and containers solution can provide solid advantages alongside these techniques. These capabilities enable CICS to fully comply with emerging technology requirements in terms of sizing and flexibility. The book then goes on to describe application design, and looks at implementing channels and containers from an application programmer point of view. It provides examples to show how to evolve channels and containers from communication areas (COMMAREAs). Next, the book explains the channels and containers application programming interface (API). It also describes how this API can be used in both traditional CICS applications and a Java CICS (JCICS) applications. The business transaction services (BTS) API is considered as a similar yet recoverable alternative to channels and containers. Some authorized program analysis reports (APARs) are introduced, which enable more flexible web services features by using channels and containers. The book also presents information from a systems management point of view, describing the systems management and configuration tasks and techniques that you must consider when implementing a channels and containers solution. The book chooses a sample application in the CICS catalog manager example, and describes how you can port an existing CICS application to use channels and containers rather than using COMMAREAs.

IBM® CICS® Transaction Server (CICS TS) has been available in various guises for over 40 years, and continues to be one of the most widely used pieces of commercial software. This IBM Redbooks® publication helps application architects discover the value of CICS Transaction Server to their business. This book can help architects understand the value and capabilities of CICS Transaction Server and the CICS tools portfolio. The book also provides detailed guidance on the leading practices for designing and integrating CICS applications within an enterprise, and the patterns and techniques you can use to create CICS systems that provide the qualities of service that your business requires.

This book presents the proceedings of four conferences: The 16th International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering + STEM (FECS'20), The 16th International Conference on Foundations of Computer Science (FCS'20), The 18th International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practice (SERP'20), and The 19th International Conference on e-Learning, e-Business, Enterprise Information Systems, & e-Government (EEE'20). The conferences took place in Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 27-30, 2020 as part of the larger 2020 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE'20), which features 20 major tracks. Authors include academics, researchers, professionals, and students. This book contains an open access chapter entitled, "Advances in Software Engineering, Education, and e-Learning". Presents the proceedings of four conferences as part of the 2020 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE'20); Includes the tracks Computer Engineering + STEM, Foundations of Computer Science, Software Engineering Research, and e-Learning, e-Business, Enterprise Information Systems, & e-Government; Features papers from FECS'20, FCS'20, SERP'20, EEE'20, including one open access chapter.