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A Mainframe Computing Reader
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
My Book Has a Foreword by my editor at TechChannel. I thought that you might enjoy reading it--
Foreword
Everything is magic until you understand how it works. In that way, this book intends to render the IBM Z mainframe computer, the platform that powers global commerce, something decidedly un-magical. But don’t mistake that from a lack of passion on the part of Dr. Joe Gulla, the author of this book.
When Joe reached out to me in late 2024, he had spent four and a half decades working on the mainframe, filling roles ranging from programmer to professor. Now, the time had come for him to document his longtime fascination with the mainframe. It was immediately clear he wasn’t messing around. Joe’s plan was fully formed: 24 articles published in TechChannel over the course of a year, at least a couple thousand words a piece covering the ins and outs of the mainframe’s most popular operating system, z/OS.
Through this meticulous examination of z/OS and its associated applications, frameworks and protocols, Joe promised to illuminate this legendary but often misunderstood computing platform. Following an overview of z/OS and mainframe architecture, he planned to examine the mainframe software stack from the ground-up. This ambitious project could be a book, I thought. And here we are. Those 24 articles are collected here, a tour through the z/OS stack, layer by layer.
As I edited Joe’s articles every other week over the course of 2025, it dawned on me that he was really taking us on an archaeological tour, cataloging the decades of advances that have formed the foundation of a foundational technology.
The bedrock, Joe explains, is the Base Program Layer (BCP), the “nucleus program” present when the first modern mainframe was introduced in 1964. BCP was—and still is—responsible for booting up the system but also served as a map of development for what would become z/OS. Joe follows that thread to the present day, studying not only the platform’s evolution, but how its software fits together to form the system that handles some 70% of the world’s transactions.
The mainframe isn’t going anywhere, so it’s worth understanding. Maybe you’re new to enterprise computing and want to be among the few who grasp this piece of technology that is so central to modern life. Maybe you’re already familiar with the mainframe but want to brush up on your knowledge and learn about the latest advances on the platform. Either way, this dissection of z/OS has something for you—high-level context, minute detail and a little humanizing touch, in the form of illustrative anecdotes from Joe’s esteemed career.
Wherever you are on your mainframe journey, consider this book your companion, a source of both inspiration and technical knowledge marking an effort to understand the computer that’s been central to the modern human story. It’s easy to get romantic about the mainframe, and while the technology is worthy of these sentiments, this book is a reminder that the mainframe is not magic; it’s something you can know.
Andrew Wig -- Senior Editor and a contributor for TechChannel, a publication focused on information technology.
Foreword
Everything is magic until you understand how it works. In that way, this book intends to render the IBM Z mainframe computer, the platform that powers global commerce, something decidedly un-magical. But don’t mistake that from a lack of passion on the part of Dr. Joe Gulla, the author of this book.
When Joe reached out to me in late 2024, he had spent four and a half decades working on the mainframe, filling roles ranging from programmer to professor. Now, the time had come for him to document his longtime fascination with the mainframe. It was immediately clear he wasn’t messing around. Joe’s plan was fully formed: 24 articles published in TechChannel over the course of a year, at least a couple thousand words a piece covering the ins and outs of the mainframe’s most popular operating system, z/OS.
Through this meticulous examination of z/OS and its associated applications, frameworks and protocols, Joe promised to illuminate this legendary but often misunderstood computing platform. Following an overview of z/OS and mainframe architecture, he planned to examine the mainframe software stack from the ground-up. This ambitious project could be a book, I thought. And here we are. Those 24 articles are collected here, a tour through the z/OS stack, layer by layer.
As I edited Joe’s articles every other week over the course of 2025, it dawned on me that he was really taking us on an archaeological tour, cataloging the decades of advances that have formed the foundation of a foundational technology.
The bedrock, Joe explains, is the Base Program Layer (BCP), the “nucleus program” present when the first modern mainframe was introduced in 1964. BCP was—and still is—responsible for booting up the system but also served as a map of development for what would become z/OS. Joe follows that thread to the present day, studying not only the platform’s evolution, but how its software fits together to form the system that handles some 70% of the world’s transactions.
The mainframe isn’t going anywhere, so it’s worth understanding. Maybe you’re new to enterprise computing and want to be among the few who grasp this piece of technology that is so central to modern life. Maybe you’re already familiar with the mainframe but want to brush up on your knowledge and learn about the latest advances on the platform. Either way, this dissection of z/OS has something for you—high-level context, minute detail and a little humanizing touch, in the form of illustrative anecdotes from Joe’s esteemed career.
Wherever you are on your mainframe journey, consider this book your companion, a source of both inspiration and technical knowledge marking an effort to understand the computer that’s been central to the modern human story. It’s easy to get romantic about the mainframe, and while the technology is worthy of these sentiments, this book is a reminder that the mainframe is not magic; it’s something you can know.
Andrew Wig -- Senior Editor and a contributor for TechChannel, a publication focused on information technology.
July 6, 2026
I took Dr. Gulla's enterprise architecture course at Nove Southeastern University over a decade ago, so I came to this book already knowing him as a professor. That teacherly instinct is exactly what makes this book work. I hold a PhD in Information Systems, and the book met me at the right level: rigorous enough to satisfy a technical reader, yet genuinely accessible to anyone outside the mainframe world who is interested in learning about it.
I learned a great deal. Mainframes had only ever been a stereotype to me, and Dr. Gulla turned them into a system I could actually understand — the architecture, the layers of z/OS, and why the platform has endured for sixty years.
The writing is clear and unhurried, structured as short, paired articles that can be read in pieces without losing the thread. Dr. Gulla draws on a long career in the field, and the personal recollections scattered throughout, together with the historical context he provides, keep it from ever feeling like a manual.
It's an orientation rather than a how-to book. But it's a serious, well-crafted deep dive into the technology running quietly behind modern commerce — excellent, and a rare example of expert material written with real generosity toward the reader.
- Eric M. Spriggs, Ph.D. -- Dir., Finance & Business Operations, FHWA, Office of Technical Services (Retired)
I learned a great deal. Mainframes had only ever been a stereotype to me, and Dr. Gulla turned them into a system I could actually understand — the architecture, the layers of z/OS, and why the platform has endured for sixty years.
The writing is clear and unhurried, structured as short, paired articles that can be read in pieces without losing the thread. Dr. Gulla draws on a long career in the field, and the personal recollections scattered throughout, together with the historical context he provides, keep it from ever feeling like a manual.
It's an orientation rather than a how-to book. But it's a serious, well-crafted deep dive into the technology running quietly behind modern commerce — excellent, and a rare example of expert material written with real generosity toward the reader.
- Eric M. Spriggs, Ph.D. -- Dir., Finance & Business Operations, FHWA, Office of Technical Services (Retired)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews