Chapter 27: Further Reading - JCL Essentials for COBOL Programmers

Books

"MVS JCL Reference" by Michael Winter (4th Edition) Widely regarded as the most practical JCL reference for application programmers, this book covers every JCL statement and parameter with clear examples and explanations of real-world usage. The chapters on DISP, SPACE, and conditional execution are exceptionally well written. This book is ideal as a desk reference for daily JCL coding tasks.

"OS/390 MVS JCL Quick Reference" by Gary DeWard Brown A concise, example-driven handbook that organizes JCL by task rather than by statement. Need to allocate a VSAM file? Copy a PDS member? Submit a multi-step compile-link-go? Each task is presented with complete JCL examples and explanations of every parameter used. This is the book to grab when you need to get something done quickly.

"z/OS JCL" by Gary DeWard Brown (5th Edition) The expanded and updated version of the quick reference, this edition covers modern z/OS JCL features including JCLLIB, the IF/THEN/ELSE construct, JES2 and JES3 extensions, and SMS-managed storage. It provides thorough treatment of cataloged procedures and symbolic parameter processing with worked examples from production environments.

Online Resources

IBM Developer: JCL Tutorials and Hands-On Labs IBM provides interactive JCL tutorials through its z/OS learning platform, where you can submit actual JCL jobs against a hosted mainframe environment. These labs walk through job creation, dataset allocation, procedure invocation, and conditional execution in a guided, step-by-step format that is ideal for building practical JCL skills.

zOS Hot Topics Newsletter: JCL Tips and Techniques IBM's long-running Hot Topics newsletter regularly features articles on JCL best practices, new language features, and common problem-resolution techniques. The archived issues contain a wealth of practical tips from IBM systems programmers, covering topics like JCL symbol resolution, SCHENV usage, and output management.

Share Conference Proceedings: JCL Modernization Sessions The SHARE user group conference regularly features sessions on JCL best practices and modernization. Presentation materials covering topics such as JCL standards enforcement, automated JCL generation, and migration from COND to IF/THEN/ELSE are available through the SHARE proceedings archive.

IBM Documentation

"z/OS MVS JCL Reference" (SA23-1385) The authoritative IBM reference for every JCL statement, parameter, and sub-parameter. Each entry includes complete syntax diagrams, detailed descriptions of every option, default values, and interactions with other parameters. This is the definitive source when you need the exact rules for any JCL construct.

"z/OS MVS JCL User's Guide" (SA23-1386) Complementing the reference manual, this guide takes a task-oriented approach to JCL. It covers how to define and manage datasets, use procedures, control job and step execution, and work with JES2 or JES3 output. The numerous examples and scenarios make it more accessible than the reference manual for learning purposes.

"z/OS JES2 Initialization and Tuning Guide" (SA32-0991) Understanding JES2 is essential for COBOL programmers who need to manage job output, control job scheduling, or troubleshoot job submission issues. This guide covers JES2 initialization parameters, output descriptors, job classes, and the spool management that underpins all batch job execution on z/OS.

Standards and Practices

Enterprise JCL Standards and Naming Conventions Most mainframe shops maintain internal JCL standards documents that specify naming conventions for jobs, procedures, datasets, and DD names. While these are organization-specific, understanding common industry conventions -- such as high-level qualifier structures and standard ddnames like SYSPRINT, SYSOUT, and SYSIN -- helps COBOL programmers write portable, maintainable JCL across environments.

Mainframe DevOps: Automated JCL Generation and Validation Modern mainframe development practices increasingly automate JCL creation and validation through tools such as IBM Dependency Based Build and open-source frameworks. Resources on mainframe DevOps practices describe how JCL templates, parameterized procedures, and automated submission pipelines reduce errors and accelerate the deployment of COBOL batch applications.