Tutorial overview

If you are new to Microsoft Visual Studio Code, you might want to first explore the user interface to learn about its key user interface capabilities and views, which are most relevant for working with COBOL, PL/I, and HLASM program files.

If you are ready to get hands-on with IBM Z Open Editor, you can use the sample repository of COBOL, PL/I, and HLASM files to walk through the tutorials and explore the features of IBM Z Open Editor.

Once you have the sample files, you can start by making code changes to COBOL and HLASM programs to learn about the editing capabilities.

After you complete code changes on your machine, you might want to go ahead and manage z/OS resources. To learn more about how to interact with z/OS using IBM Z Open Editor and its integrations, refer to the following tutorials:

• Managing z/OS resources with IBM RSE API Plug-in for Zowe CLI tutorial: Provides examples on how to use Zowe Explorer, IBM RSE API Plug-in for Zowe CLI commands, and a script to interact with z/OS. This tutorial is relevant when RSE API is installed and configured on the host.

• Submitting JCL to compile, link, and run jobs tutorial: Provides examples on how to use Zowe CLI commands and Zowe Explorer to submit JCL.

Then, you can follow Building COBOL applications tutorial to learn how to set up and run a user build for COBOL programs in VS Code by using the IBM User Build VS Code extension.