Practical MVS JCL Examples: An Introduction to MVS/ESA

If you use JCL (as a novice or an experienced developer) then the following 3 books (published by Wiley) should cover the bulk of your needs;1. Gary DeWard Brown's "System 370/390 JCL"2. James Janossy's "Practical MVS JCL Examples"3. James Janossy's "Advanced MVS JCL Examples"All solidly blend theory with practise, with "1" slanted toward theory, "2" slanted toward practical examples and "3" picking up where "2" leaves off. All are independent treaures in their own right yet are also complementary. They get straight to the core of the issue - making JCL productive for you.These three sit on my desk in work and rarely a day goes by without someone borrowing them.The only comment I would add is that these books do not delve deeply into the use of utilities. They do show you how to call them and occasionally explain the many parameters that the utilities offer. However, if you need an in depth explanation of utilities, you may need to look elsewhere (and Lowe's "OS Utilities" is usually too lightweight to help).

The two other books by Lowe and Zamir purchased prior to buying this book by Janossy were a waste of my time and money. This book explains using JCL in very simple terms. I have looked at and used JCL for the past ten months as a newcomer to the mainframe and still did not know the purpose for some of the simpler items in a JCL statement, such as the uses for SYSIN, SYSUT1, SYSUT2, and the DUMMY designation. I learned more in the first three chapters than I learned in ten months on the job. Any diagrams discussed are actually on the same page or adjoining to the page under discussion! This is a real treat compared to other books. I am looking for other books by this author, including his COBOL book.