Developing applications

You can develop applications in COBOL, Java™, Node.js, C, C++, PL/I, Assembler, and REXX languages. CICS® provides application programming interfaces (APIs) so that applications can access CICS services and data in other products, such as VSAM and Db2®.

For a list of the CICS application programming interface commands, see CICS command summary.

For a list of application programming languages that are supported by CICS TS and an overview of CICS support for application programming languages, see Changes to CICS support for application programming languages.

Prerequisite: Language Environment run time

All programs must be run under CICS-Language Environment® support, regardless of whether they are compiled by a Language Environment-conforming compiler.

Language Environment is a base element of z/OS® and provides the common runtime environment for COBOL, PL/I, C, and C++. For more information about how CICS uses the services of Language Environment, see Programming languages and Language Environment.

Pre-Language Environment compilers provided native runtime libraries for programming languages, but the native runtime libraries are not supported in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, Version 5 Release 5 . However, Language Environment provides object and load module compatibility for applications that are generated with certain pre-Language Environment compilers. Load modules that are created with these compilers, and link-edited with their associated runtime libraries, are compatible with the Language Environment without relinking. Also, object modules created with these compilers can be linked and run with Language Environment without recompiling.