Re: New IT personnel

Hello,

There are a lot of resources out there, and what works best generally depends on the student.

1) Books work well for some, for RPG I recommend Jim Buck's books (Mastering IBM i, Programming in ILE RPG, etc) since he's a long-time teacher who has worked out a good system.

2) For computer-based training (self-learning) I like Manta's offering, and have been using it extensively for my new hires. http://www.mantatech.com

3) Some people learn best when there's an actual class with a live instructor. This is a new venture of Jim Buck's as well http://impowertechnologies.com

4) For students that want a quick "boot camp" where they learn from video, COMMON's BootCamp videos are a good way to get started quick, but like any video-based learning they "get you over the hump" but can't cover every possible detail, so you'll want to use them together with books (maybe the IBM ones, or some like Jim Buck's).
https://www.common.org/online-education/boot-camp/

Of course, a REALLY nice way to go is to hire someone to come on site and train your people... systemideveloper.com can do that -- but, you mention a limited budget, and having someone come on site is more expensive.

Good luck!


On 6/7/18 1:53 PM, T. Adair wrote:

[Cross-posted to RPG400-L because it applies to both.]

We have two new developers that will be starting with us in a few weeks.  Neither has any IBM i experience, and neither has any RPG experience. One is from a COBOL background on a mainframe, and the other is more of a Java/C-something background.  With a limited budget, I'm looking for advice on...:

1. Beginner IBM i user - training resources, materials, books, websites, etc. (cheap is good, free is better).  They are both starting from scratch.

2. Beginner RPG IV/ILE (free format) - training resources, materials, books, websites, etc.  Again, they are both starting from scratch.  They will be using RDi.

It's been years since I've helped train anyone, and teaching/training is not within my comfort zone.  And honestly, I'm very weak on RDi myself - I've been green-screen for over 30 years.

Since I will be on vacation the week they start, I'm hoping to have some resources on hand that they can begin utilizing right away.  I have a few books of my own, but most of these assume that the reader is updating their skills from older RPG.  Is there something out there for someone starting from square one?

I would appreciate your thoughts on this.  Thanks in advance.

~TA~