Video and Q&A: Learn how COBOL and open source are used in modern mainframe ecosystem
Tags: ibmcloud, meetup, video, cobol
Published: 2020-07-17 15:01:58

---
title: Video and Q&A: Learn how COBOL and open source are used in modern mainframe ecosystem
published: true
date: 2020-07-09 18:24:16 UTC
tags: IBMCloud,Meetup,Video,COBOL
canonical_url: https://maxkatz.org/2020/07/09/video-and-qa-learn-how-cobol-and-open-source-are-used-in-modern-mainframe-ecosystem/
---

![](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/cobol-meetup.png?w=1024)<figcaption>Learn how COBOL and open source are used in modern mainframe ecosystem</figcaption>

I hosted an online meetup with [Elizabeth K Joseph](https://twitter.com/pleia2), IBM Developer Advocate on [how COBOL and open source are used in modern mainframe ecosystem](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open). The online meetup consisted of a short presentation and Q&A session. In the first part of the meetup Elizabeth covered the following:

- What do modern COBOL and mainframes look like?
- How is open source playing a major role in the modern mainframe ecosystem?
- What kinds of DevOps tools are being made available to mainframe developers?

Elizabeth is an awesome speaker. I highly encourage you to [watch the replay](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open).

In the Q&A part, she answered the following questions (when you click on Answer you will jump to that place in the video):

- Can you tell little bit more about “Master the Mainframe Program”. Can you learn a COBOL in this course? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjGwCo6dLWbhi7u1M3)]
- How many online transactions can it [mainframe] handle? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjJT13VOc-bnQXhoFk)]
- How do you call back to a COBOL program? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjJrNhPFsrb_Trdknq)]
- Is there access to this type of machines for developers [on the cloud]? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjKUIicPCDu_v8JtL6)]
- Is Wazi based on zPDT? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjKpM790EGS52_hnWx)]
- As a former COBOL programmer (not IBM), is there a way to retrain and find a job in the San Francisco Bay Area? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjL6QDwVrPIes1oD-l)]
- How do you connect to back-end COBOL form front end? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjMPqlddpTQkm1q01N)]
- Which challenges did you face when learning about IBM Z? I was surprised to learn today you were Developer Advocate / IBM Z for only about a year; you published posts and today give this presentation. I got the impression you’ve had mainframe experience for way longer [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjMVOKf_LwxsgMozfd)]
- What are code profilers recommended for COBOL? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjOeXmqffa-m50-85X)]
- Did you meet any limitations when using COBOL? I mean something you wanted to do and you couldn’t because of COBOL? [[Answer](https://www.crowdcast.io/e/learn-how-cobol-and-open/1/q/-MBjPX8902da8JwarU6u)]

Elizabeth also shared the following resources to help learn about COBOL and meetup slides:

- Event slides: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dy\_vI54poKVA5bubfAjHvyb3PCuBb98W/view?usp=sharing](http://email.mg.crowdcast.io/c/eJwVTr2OgzAYe5owRiEfKWHIQItQq1tuuhur_AFpoR-CQK_39E0l24NtWXYKKvDeZUFxxhkrmeR5shjNqYBT0RRlI9paVLKRpGBTT-2CT2f1GmnAbFC-clparzU3LqkUnYO0cQAorTyYLhvVEOO8EqgJbxPcEnZPe8R-9NTilKwujP6TJObudd0vopjx66cWZjNdfTvvLwPfp-1oKvmbOnvwTwLtts4EmnXQS3j02aIm_XfX8T-9xC2OiPfP-huyiUW8)
- IBM Developer COBOL portal: [https://developer.ibm.com/technologies/cobol/](http://email.mg.crowdcast.io/c/eJwVjdsKwyAQRL8mPspGTdQHH0pD_mO9kEhMNyT2Qr--FgYOc2CY6KSVKUWWnQABoMGIvingPR_kXU1KT8N8G6yZTKdgX3g46R0DXpVnYquzUXr0CnUAq1GZpCP40Y5iNB7BIiturfW4OnnrxNwS0ysVOtLJs995oL25msL6oEJLTlergTyVRna6HT8b1m-7pmctRNt_8QMyczeI)
- COBOL Fridays: [https://developer.ibm.com/technologies/cobol/series/cobol-fridays-webinar-videos](http://email.mg.crowdcast.io/c/eJxNjssOwiAURL-m3ZXwaBEWLIyN_0G5V0ukXgP4_HpxZzLJyZzFZMApqxChj05yyfmOGyma4kywSR3GedzN03E_WTObbuTbmYVMTwi-VBapXx1oC1pLrSEsQnhvwUgLAgMaQAXQJ7fWeiud2nfy2AL4wEQ3zCwuGwu0NVcxrFdKdI5YWg20UGosmP_EcMoR_LsMT1zi1efhEQGp9Nlt_nXx9dP-0b0mostv9guT5UZB)
- Open Mainframe Project COBOL Training Course: [https://www.openmainframeproject.org/projects/coboltrainingcourse](http://email.mg.crowdcast.io/c/eJwtTksOgyAUPI0sCfJRWbAwNd4D4alU8RnE2PT0ZdFkFvNNxhuhBYAnwXDGGWtZx-tiMVpTJV5ykO2gxl7pbugqyeJCXcLHO3tlGpCspplaqFWZaSUF6EYwgAI9t17WMEuymzXn86pEX_Gx4Hkeiicc0YZjTjbCmfANLlNMS4n_6irU4YR7TqUXjsXhnS4gyUT72Wz-ljN45x1xow7jD4cLP7k)
- Coursera: COBOL programming with VS Code: [https://www.coursera.org/learn/cobol-programming-vscode](http://email.mg.crowdcast.io/c/eJwNjsEKhCAURb-mdiOmmbZwERP9x0vNouyF2TjM149w4MJZXI7VvOfO2XrTjDJKJVWsKYqShgj-bsdWjmIaRK9GVbU0eGIiZmvgTmTDetVdu1BwopFMCcVnwy2bJRjXc750jYL60GtK113xoWJTIedMDD7xdhEIRl_U4SCeZQ3OeLyuiD5CCNvpX5_boHV11AG-O6RfScAnHYh7-Qh_-lU7Gw)

This was a very fun online meetup and we will have Elizabeth back again.