Preparing, Executing and Testing a Program

After you have written a program or source code, the next step is to compile or assemble it. The compiler or assembler creates listings that help you diagnose problems in your source statements, and object modules that contain the compiled or assembled code.

If your program requires data from system libraries or from other programs, you can use TSO/E to link-edit a number of object modules together to form a load module.

You can use TSO/E to execute a program in the foreground, or to submit the JCL statements necessary to execute it in the background. A discussion of how to execute background jobs is provided in z/OS TSO/E User's Guide.

While you are executing your program, you may encounter errors or abnormal terminations (abends). To help determine the cause of errors and to monitor the execution of your program, use the TEST command for unauthorized programs. Use the TESTAUTH command for authorized programs.