{"id":36785,"date":"2020-02-25T17:06:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arcadsoftware.com\/?p=36785"},"modified":"2023-11-20T12:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T10:55:23","slug":"empower-your-ibm-i-teams-the-extraordinary-potential-of-git","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arcadsoftware.com\/arcad\/news-events\/blog\/empower-your-ibm-i-teams-the-extraordinary-potential-of-git\/","title":{"rendered":"Empower your IBM i teams: the extraordinary potential of Git"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michel Mouchon <\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The DevOps movement has created a refreshing \u201cwind of change\u201d in the way application development is managed, reaching the furthest corners of the industry and not least our beloved IBM i.<\/p>\n

DevOps came into existence as an offshoot of Agile development methodologies with the ambition of extending the same principles right across the entire application lifecycle, from the initial requirement through to operational availability of the functionality or feature for users.<\/p>\n

In essence, the primary purpose of DevOps is to “serve the business” by delivering higher quality software as rapidly as possible \u2013 removing all potential obstacles at any stage in the cycle and automating anything that can be automated<\/strong>.\u00a0 With their open source advantage, both Git and Jenkins have emerged as the star players (though others exist and are steadily gaining some ground).<\/p>\n

To be accepted on IBM i, the outright dominance of Git demands an explanation.\u00a0 In this article we will demystify Git and examine its relevance on the IBM i platform<\/strong> in particular.\u00a0 Tightly linked to Git are a number of collaborative tools with GitHub the leader in this space.\u00a0 But what exactly does GitHub bring to the table over and above raw Git?\u00a0 And how well adapted is an industry standard tool like GitHub to a traditional development environment on IBM i?<\/p>\n<\/div>

Summary<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Getting to grips with Git<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. GitHub: power to the developer<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. What about IBM i?<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Git myths to dispel \u2013 the technical ones<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. How can ARCAD\u2019s team help you?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>
    <\/div>\n

    1. Getting to grips with Git<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Git is a distributed source code manager which tracks application changes via an optimistic validation mechanism for changes (the “commits”).\u00a0 Developers\u2019 work is secured along with complete traceability of all source code changes.\u00a0 This mechanism frees the unlimited creativity of the developer, as he can revert to previous versions very easily, compare the different levels of commit and view the history of all changes made, however minor.\u00a0 The fact that Git is wholly decentralized only enhances the autonomy and freedom for developers.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    2. GitHub: power to the developer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    GitHub is THE collaboration tool of choice for many corporate organisations offering a web-based repository hosting platform over Git.\u00a0 It can be used in its cloud-based or on-premise form.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First and foremost, it organizes and manages teamwork, but also provides a graphical Web interface to Git as well as delivering additional features including a comprehensive code validation workflow.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

    <\/div>\n

    3. What about IBM i?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Why would you store your RPG or COBOL sources in Git\/GitHub?\u00a0 What are the advantages over and above the change management tools traditionally found in IBM i environments?\u00a0 Is this even conceivable\u00a0for the many “heritage” IBM i applications that are still running the world\u2019s most critical business operations today?<\/p>\n

    YES!\u00a0 Without a shadow of a doubt.<\/p>\n

    In my job modernizing IBM i development processes and environments I\u2019ve come across many IT professionals who are still sceptical even today.\u00a0 IBM i developers are bizarrely in most respects both seen as the inventors of DevOps (with their structured change management and deployment processes, designed for minimal risk, some would say that RPG developers invented DevOps), and yet they can still be the most reticent to change. To some, the Git culture can seem a generation (or two) away.\u00a0 To these sceptics I would say: “Aren\u2019t IBM i applications precisely designed to serve the business?\u00a0 Don\u2019t their users have increasingly pressing requirements?\u00a0 Why on earth would you leave them aside?”.\u00a0 Git is all the more relevant to IBM i applications knowing that these precious and trusted applications usually encapsulate the most critical parts of the information system and often represent the unique competitive advantage<\/strong> on which IBM i companies have built their successful business models around.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    4. Git myths to dispel \u2013 the technical ones<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    In your mission to bring Git benefits to IBM i, you will no doubt come across some technical questions that you will need to counter.\u00a0 Some classic examples:<\/p>\n

    Q1. “But can IBM i applications \u2013 with their “proprietary” file system \u2013 actually fit into a standard tool like Git?”
    \n<\/strong>Yes, they can!\u00a0 IBM has greatly contributed by modernizing the IBM i platform over the years.\u00a0 And the remaining integration work to make Git enterprise-ready on IBM i has been developed by ARCAD Software.\u00a0 With ARCAD\u2019s Git integration you can manage 100% of your IBM i application components as “sources” in Git (and yes, even the so-called “sourceless” objects).<\/p>\n

    Q2. “IBM i applications are just too large to be managed in Git”
    \n<\/strong>Quite the opposite!\u00a0 Because Git works by “delta” changes, it is particularly well suited to high volume applications such as those on IBM i.<\/p>\n

    Q3. “OK so maybe there are no technical obstacles to Git on IBM i \u2013 but what is in it for my team?”
    \n<\/strong>The return on investment (ROI) of a DevOps approach is well documented and universally understood.\u00a0 But over and above the ROI, both Git and Jenkins bring measurable benefits to the development team itself.<\/p>\n

    1. More developer “value-add” time available<\/strong><\/p>\n

    When used together, the DevOps automation tools Jenkins and ARCAD Builder attain 100% automation of the build (recompilation) process.\u00a0 This frees developers from tedious repetitive and often manual tasks such as integrity checks and script maintenance.\u00a0 Developers can focus their time on their real job of creative and value-add tasks to innovate and support the business!<\/p>\n

    2. Understanding other people\u2019s code<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Which developer on the planet hasn\u2019t racked his brain to understand why this chunk of code has been written this way?\u00a0 And looked around to find someone to explain why?\u00a0 (Only to discover that the author left a while ago and never thought that comprehensive documentation would be necessary!)<\/p>\n

    This kind of situation is common and a huge potential \u201ctime waster\u201d and bottleneck in the acceleration of your development processes.\u00a0 It is also one area where the collaborative tools like GitHub deliver the biggest benefit.<\/p>\n

    GitHub and others let you look back in time<\/strong>, down to the very finest detail, to understand the reasons behind that code and why it was written that way.\u00a0 By understanding the logic better, your code changes are certainly faster and far less likely to introduce hidden defects.<\/p>\n

    Also, with GitHub, code review mechanisms are built-in to the standard workflow<\/strong>.\u00a0 Peer review becomes an integral part of development.\u00a0 All exchanges between developers and the explanations they share are safely stored for future reference.\u00a0 This conversational history is rich code “intelligence” for any future developer\u2026<\/p>\n

    To prove the point, let\u2019s just consider how open source developers work.\u00a0 Without even knowing each other, and often geographically distributed to the far-flung corners of the globe, they develop and collaborate on highly complex projects in a totally decentralized way.\u00a0 Git makes all this possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s no accident that there are literally millions of open source application repositories on GitHub!<\/p>\n

    3. “Pull Request”:\u00a0 a validation workflow for code merge<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The other big GitHub contribution to DevOps is the validation workflow for the merging of code branches: the so-called “pull request”.\u00a0 DevOps is all about automating the non-creative parts of software development.\u00a0 That means everything except the art of coding itself!<\/p>\n

    The greater the automation, the lower the risk of error, and the more secure your system.\u00a0 A fully auditable process cures the compliance headaches of pre-DevOps days.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    5. How can ARCAD\u2019s team help you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    With all these advantages – I hope I have been able to dispel some of the myths about Git, and helped you take one step further towards embracing Git on IBM i<\/strong>. \u00a0ARCAD\u2019s customers see our work together as an essential element in their DevOps success on IBM i.\u00a0 The deep Git integrations and specific IBM i Git methodology that come by default with ARCAD for DevOps render these industry-standard tools workable on IBM i – with a custom Git development environment friendly enough to onboard the most reticent of IBM i die-hards\u2026 \u00a0ARCAD\u2019s hybrid model even allows your 5250 developers to work alongside your RDi developers, all sharing the same powerful versioning features of Git!<\/p>\n

    A clear advantage behind ARCAD when implementing Git and Jenkins on IBM i is undoubtedly ARCAD\u2019s unique metadata repository architecture<\/strong>. Every developer, operator, tester and IT manager derives value from this repository as it is updated in real-time as developers code. The dependency knowledge contained within the ARCAD repository delivers massive automation potential to minimize risk and cost right across the software development lifecycle:<\/p>\n