The IBM i operating system running on IBM Power Systems is a platform in transition. Many think the system is obsolete, largely due to its infamous green screen. Nothing, though, could be further from the truth. When IBM embraced open-source software such as Linux, MySQL, and Zend PHP, the system cemented a formidable position in today’s business environment.

This text starts with the traditional concepts and tools (you need to understand these concepts before improving on them) and then describes IBM’s new tools and additional concepts, such as SQL. Those of you familiar with the previous version of this book, Mastering the AS/400, will notice that the chapters on DFU and SDA have been removed. The use of Query for i5/OS has been reduced, and emphasis has been placed on the new DB2 Web Query product.

The goal of this book is twofold. First, it aims to introduce new IBM i programmers to system concepts and expose those who have used the platform for years to new concepts such as SQL. Second, the book provides a handbook for many of IBM’s new tools, including Rational Developer for Power, IBM i Access for Windows, IBM i Access for Web, and DB2 Web Query for i—providing comprehensive information that will be useful regardless of the programmer’s level of IBM i expertise.

Having worked on the platform since 1990, and in teaching new IBM i programmers for more than eight years, I have struggled to fi nd a text that encompassed the general concepts of the system, covered new concepts such as SQL, and presented new graphical tools in a format that the reader can work through. When Bryan Meyers and I updated our CL and RPG textbooks, we decided to provide a complete package for today’s IBM i student or programmer. Jerry Fottral’s Mastering the AS/400 provided the perfect foundation for a handbook of IBM i concepts and tools.