Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

Hi,

What kind of language JCL is ? It belongs to HLL or MLL? I don't find any such information about it.

Please help.

JCL is not a language.It acts as a COMMUNICATION MEDIUM between Application programs and the OS.

Your first error is stating the JCL is a language. Computer languages need certain features (such as loops) which are lacking in JCL. I think that Pandora's comment about JCL being a communications medium is more accurate than referring to it as a "language".

This confusion seems is perhaps because of the word "language" in the full form of JCL. I'd say, don't get confused by the word "language". As Robert has indicated, High-level language" refers to the higher level of abstraction from machine language. Rather than dealing with registers, memory addresses and call stacks, high-level languages deal with variables, arrays, objects, subroutines and functions, loops, threads, locks, and other abstract computer science concepts, with a focus on usability over optimal program efficiency while OTOH, low-level languages does not have all this but LLL often produce more efficient code. The following stack shows a pictorial view of HLL and other aspects:

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Having said all that, Job Control Language (JCL) is a scripting language used on IBM mainframe operating systems to instruct the system on how to run a batch job or start a subsystem and just not think about HLL, MLL, LLL when talking about JCLs.


PS.: Pic courtesy webopedia.

Job Control Language (JCL) is a scripting language used on IBM mainframe operating systems to instruct the system on how to run a batch job or start a subsystem and just not think about HLL, MLL, LLL when talking about JCLs.

Having said JCL is a scripting language could we name it rather as an INTEPRETER whose parameters/commands/key words are intepreted by JES