Guideline - Recommended Practice
In the mainframe context, a guideline or recommended practice refers to a set of established principles, procedures, or conventions that, while not strictly mandatory, are advised for optimal performance, reliability, security, maintainability, or efficiency in z/OS environments. These practices are often derived from industry experience, IBM recommendations, or internal organizational standards.
Key Characteristics
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- Non-mandatory: Unlike strict rules or syntax requirements, guidelines offer advice rather than enforcement, though deviation may lead to sub-optimal outcomes.
- Context-specific: Practices are often tailored to specific mainframe components like
JCL,COBOL,CICS,DB2,IMS, or system administration tasks. - Evolves with technology: As z/OS and related products evolve, so do the recommended practices to leverage new features or address new challenges.
- Aids in standardization: Following guidelines promotes consistency across development teams, making code and configurations easier to understand and maintain.
- Improves system health: Adherence often leads to better resource utilization, reduced errors, improved security posture, and enhanced system stability.
- Documented: Typically found in official IBM documentation, internal standards manuals, or industry whitepapers.
Use Cases
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- COBOL Program Development: Guidelines for coding style, variable naming conventions, error handling,
FILE STATUSchecking, andPERFORMstatement usage to ensure maintainability and performance. - JCL Job Stream Design: Recommended practices for
DDstatement allocation,STEPordering,RESTARTparameters,DISPprocessing, andPROCusage to optimize job execution and recovery. - CICS Transaction Design: Guidelines for
EXEC CICScommand usage,storage management,abend handling, andtransaction isolationto ensure high availability and responsiveness. - DB2 SQL Query Optimization: Best practices for
indexing,JOINoperations,WHEREclause construction, andRUNSTATSexecution to improve database performance. - System Administration: Recommendations for
SMFdata collection,IPLprocedures,security hardening(RACF), andperformance tuning(WLM) to maintain a healthy z/OS system.
- COBOL Program Development: Guidelines for coding style, variable naming conventions, error handling,
Related Concepts
Guidelines are foundational to governance and standards within a mainframe enterprise. They inform the creation of coding standards, JCL standards, security policies, and operational procedures. They often stem from IBM Redbooks or IBM Redpapers, which provide in-depth technical recommendations, and are enforced through code reviews, audits, and automated scanning tools that check for adherence to these practices.
- Regularly review and update: Ensure guidelines remain current with z/OS releases, product updates, and evolving business requirements.
- Document clearly and concisely: Make guidelines easily accessible and understandable for all relevant personnel, including examples.
- Educate and train teams: Provide ongoing training for developers and system programmers on the rationale and application of recommended practices.
- Automate enforcement where possible: Utilize tools like
static code analyzersorJCL checkersto automatically identify deviations from established guidelines. - Foster a culture of adherence: Encourage teams to understand the benefits of following guidelines for system stability, performance, and maintainability.