Developers each have their favorite IDE which facilitates application development.
Have you ever wondered how these IDEs deliver modern coding experiences (syntax-checking, code completion or go-to-definition etc.)?
Or, have you ever wished for coding assistance when writing COBOL or PL/I programs similar to other languages like JAVA or Typescript in your modern IDE?

In this session I will talk about how modernizing mainframe experiences are handled in 'code4z extension' using two different Language recognizers (LSP4J (ANTLR) and Langium) based on Language Server Protocol (LSP) specification. Both LSP4J and Langium are language engineering tools with first-class support for the LSP.
From a modern IDE point of view, LSP Architecture brings all the language-smartness features like code-snippets, goto-definition, coloring support, code completion, highlighting syntax or semantic errors related to your programming language e.g. COBOL or PL/I.

As a case study I will use VS Code with code4z extension and show how these new technologies can be leveraged to deliver a user friendly, consistent experience to developers working on mainframe code (e.g. COBOL or PL/I program with DB2 and CICS statements).

Broadcom Code4z is a collection of extensions, based on open source projects that provide mainframe users access to z/OS. I will use two extensions dedicated to mainframe specific languages like COBOL and PL/I. The extensions are free to install and use, are suitable for all levels of mainframe experience, and are intended to be used by developers working with z/OS applications, system administrators and by any other users who work with z/OS.