Written by Rituraj Mahato, Open Mainframe Project 2024 Summer Mentee
Hi, I am Rituraj 
Mahato, currently a final-year computer science student from India. I have always been interested in contributing to open source projects and finally got the opportunity to do so this summer. I started my tech journey as a web developer, later exploring the field of data science, and finally, I am on a path to becoming a mainframer.
This summer, from June to August, I contributed to the Open Mainframe Project’s COBOL Programming Course. I updated the course to integrate features from the Zowe V3 release, enhanced the testing chapter, and introduced CI/CD for COBOL application development using GitHub Actions. This will ensure that we provide learners with modern DevOps practices.
Initially, while going through the course myself, I used the latest pre-release of Zowe V3 to find errors and changes resulting from the update. I already had hands-on experience with Zowe CLI and Zowe Explorer on Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code, thanks to my earlier journey on the IBM Z Xplore platform, which enables learners to gain practical mainframe skills on a real mainframe.
While there were difficulties along the way, under the mentorship of Ashis, Micheal, Sudharsana and with the assistance of my colleague Ali, we’ve achieved significant progress.
Why I applied to this mentorship
From the first year, I knew that the LFX mentorship provides opportunities for students to work on open source projects. Initially, I used to think I am not good enough to even apply for this program. However, this summer, while browsing the LFX portal, I came across some familiar open source projects such as the COBOL Programming Course, Open Mainframe Education, and more.
The primary reason I applied was that I was already familiar with most of the skills listed in the tech stack. Before applying, I conducted extensive research and submitted applications to multiple projects. Then, one day, I received the notification that I had been selected for the program.
Before applying for the mentorship, I interacted with open mainframe project mentors to discuss the objectives and major updates to the course this year.
My Learning Journey with COBOL Programming
I won’t say that I didn’t know about this language before this mentorship program, but the time I spent and the interactions I had with my mentors significantly improved knowledge and skills. The non-technical knowledge I gained during the program was also incredibly helpful.
I visited the IBM Z Xplore platform and tackled its challenges as a revision of my mainframe skills, whether it was about using certain commands in Zowe or understanding the files generated after submitting a JCL to the mainframe. While exploring the COBOL Programming course, I ensured that I noted every small detail I could find while trying the course myself using the pre-released version of Zowe V3.
I created a document detailing my observations and proposed changes to the COBOL Programming Course for this year. This was done to ensure an error-free learning experience for the learners.
Update to Zowe V3 – COBOL Programming Course – Rituraj Mahato
Understanding the Automation with GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions allows you to automate workflows within your GitHub repository. We thought that it would be a powerful and easy to use platform for automating tasks related to Zowe CLI commands and running COBOL Check.
It allows defining workflows in a YAML configuration file, similar to other CI/CD tools.
This YAML file can specify Zowe CLI commands to be executed along with options for handling outputs and chaining actions.
Conclusion
I would like to thank my mentors Ashis Kumar Naik, Micheal Bauer and Sudharsana Srinivasan for guiding me throughout this journey and providing valuable feedback. Looking forward to contributing more to this project!
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