(It must be Friday somewhere.) My first encounter with APIs was a (likely fictitious) anecdote about an engineer who went to a programmer and asked for a program to calculate a square root. "Are you sure that's all you want? Just a calculation?" The engineer insisted that's all he needed. The next day the programmer handed over a deck of cards (ah, those were the days). "This will calculate square roots."
"Great" said the engineer. "How do I run it?" "Put this deck the card reader and press Start." "How do I input the number?" "Input? You didn't ask for input. Or output either, for that matter. This program does exactly what you asked for. It calculates a square root." Like I said, undoubtedly apocryphal. The original point of the tale was the importance of providing specifications. But I see it also in larger terms: given a computer that is somehow running some software, what APIs are needed to make any practical use of it? More specifically, what is an API in the simplest terms? In the context of the survey, I have no idea what sort of API the author has in mind. The term is not defined, yet the entire survey assumes an agreed-upon definition. Does 'API' encompass both the ability to enter a console command and a program-callable interface to HSM? I gave up on the survey. . . . J.O.Skip Robinson Southern California Edison Company Electric Dragon Team Paddler SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager 626-302-7535 Office 323-715-0595 Mobile [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gibney, David Allen,Jr Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 2:30 PM To: [email protected] Subject: (External):Re: Share your z Systems expertise: survey improvement I just started the survey, by the third page I had no idea what you were asking, so I quit > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Steve Beaver > Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 12:51 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Share your z Systems expertise: survey improvement > > Tom, > > My best description would be SHARE on-line where the audience that can > respond with suggestions and/or answers > > Steve > > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Tom Brennan > Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 12:43 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Share your z Systems expertise: survey improvement > > Tell them there's a printable $10 bill waiting for them at the end :) > > Actually, I'm one of the looky-loos. I was only trying to understand > what this is all about and don't have any applications. I didn't > fully understand the background and objectives after the first few > questions, so I left. It's probably just me though, my wife repeatedly says > I'm a little dense. > > Greg Lubel wrote: > > Thanks to all who have followed the link to my survey. This is a > > quick > question to those of you who've looked at it and decided not to complete it. > > > > Would you mind letting me know in a sentence how I could make it > > better, > to encourage completion? > > > > Many thanks, > > > > Greg ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
