🚀 go-pugleaf

I thought you might like to know that you can take a class on REXX -- online. 
For free.

(Did someone say FREE?)

The class will be held on ZD Net on CompuServe. GO ZDUNIVERSITY to sign up 
for the "Hands On REXX" class, which will be moderated by Bill Schindler and 
Esther Schindler, authors of _Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days_. The class is 7 
weeks long, and begins on March 11. (You'll want to sign up early, as 
registration is limited: first come, first served.)

Here's what the class will be cover.

===================================================================

"Hands-on REXX"      Bill Schindler and Esther Schindler
                     Instructors
                     March 11 through April 28, 1996


1) Requirements

This course will require concentration, effort, time, and dedication. In 
return, you will master fundamental programming concepts, gain an in-depth 
knowledge of almost every REXX feature, and learn how to use REXX as a batch 
language as well as a real-world programming tool. You will need to spend no 
less than an hour a day working on the examples and reading the chapters 
in the associated text book (Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days, ISBN 
0-672-30529-1, also available to download in an electronic version on March 
6, GO ZDSTORE).


2) Objective

To provide a general course on REXX and simultaneously teach general 
programming techniques to novice programmers. By the end of the course, 
students will be comfortable with REXX syntax and structure, will be familiar 
with using REXX to manipulate various OS/2 Workplace Shell components and 
creating application macros. Students will understand program flow and 
control, stem variables, REXX debugging techniques, and utility libraries.


3) What you will learn in "Hands-on REXX"

This intense, demanding and exciting course will teach you everything you 
need to become a proficient REXX programmer. It will teach you:

 * Programming fundamentals including debugging, testing,
   and dealing with user input
 * Essential REXX syntax
 * Executing system commands
 * Program control
 * RexxUtil functions
 * Manipulating Workplace Shell objects
 * Extending OS/2 applications

No programming experience is assumed, so the class (and the book) uses 
hundreds of small, detailed example programs to show you REXX features. We 
will analyze every example and complement the examples with questions and 
answers, plus homework assignments based on the quizzes and exercises in the 
text.


4) Syllabus

The "Hands-on REXX" course is designed for people who want an intensive 
introduction to REXX with particular focus on OS/2. The 7-week class assumes 
no prior programming experience, although it is also appropriate for those 
who have programming experience but need to learn about REXX or OS/2.

This course will require concentration, effort, time, and dedication. In 
return, you will master fundamental programming concepts, gain an in-depth 
knowledge of every REXX feature, and learn how to use REXX as a batch 
language as well as a real-world programming tool.

REXX is included with OS/2, so you don't need to purchase a separate 
compiler. You will need to ensure that you have REXX support installed. You 
probably do, since it's the default setting, but if you don't, the book 
includes a short appendix to help you get REXX onto your system. If you're 
using REXX with another operating system (which is entirely possible, since 
REXX is available for everything from mainframes to Amiga computers),you will 
probably want to find an OS/2 system to use during the length of the course. 
You'll still be able to follow along through most of the course without one, 
but you have a higher likelihood of getting utterly confused. (You'll do that 
in any case, while you're learning something new. Why make it worse?)


5) Course Outline

Week 1: REXX ground rules (Chapters 1-2)

We start slow during the first week to help students new to programming come 
up to speed. If you're already experienced in another programming language, 
this week will be a review for you. You'll learn the differences between REXX 
and other programming languages, and the basic structure of a REXX program.

Week 2: REXX Fundamentals (Chapters 3, 4, 5)

During this week, we look at the basic building blocks of a REXX program. 
We'll discuss variables and constants, as well as instructions, expressions, 
and operators. You'll learn how to perform basic (and not-so-basic) math 
functions using REXX. By the end of this week, you'll be producing useful (if 
not precisely awe-inspiring) REXX programs, and you'll find out how to put 
the "fun" in "fundamental."Week 3: Communicating with OS/2 (Chapters 6, 7, 8)

During the third week, we'll focus on how your REXX program can interact with 
users. You'll learn about the basic input-output functions and OS/2 system 
commands. Toward the end of the week, you'll learn how your program can make 
decisions using relational and logical operators.

Week 4: Program control (Chapters 9, 10, 11)

In the fourth week of the class, we'll spend time learning how to use and 
manipulate text using REXX. You'll also learn about the various kinds of 
loops. And, since by now you'll have discovered how to make a program fail 
utterly, we'll also spend some time discussing how to test and debug 
programs. (By this point you'll want any wisdom on that subject you can get.)

Week 5: Intermediate features (Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15)

This intensive week will cover one of the unique features of REXX: stem 
variables and associative memory. We'll also spend more time on dealing with 
user input (especially defensive programming), and introduce both subroutines 
and file input/output streams.

Week 6: External libraries (Chapters 16, 17, 18)

This week, you'll learn how to accomplish impressive things with the OS/2 
Workplace Shell. You'll learn how to use RexxUtil and other external 
libraries to create objects, to create simple and complex menu programs, and 
to access and modify your INI files. 

Week 7: Advanced features and a peek into the future
        (Chapters 19, 20, 21)

In the last week, we'll go into more depth as you learn to manipulate OS/2 
Workplace Shell objects. You'll discover how to use REXX as a macro language 
for many OS/2 applications, and to use REXX with named pipes and queues. 
We'll also discuss REXX's future, and talk about Object REXX and other cool 
stuff. 

About the authors

Bill Schindler is an experienced programmer who has worked on just about 
every operating system and used nearly every computer language available. In 
addition to writing Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days, he has written several 
articles about computer programming and development tools, and is currently 
working on a book about OpenDoc programming. Bill has been programming 
professionally for 13 years, and for ten of those years he has been an 
independent consultant. He is also editor of the Phoenix OS/2 Society's 
award-winning publication, "Extended Attributes," a sysop in the CompuServe 
OS2AVEN and OS2BVEN forums, and (possibly just to prove that he does have a 
real life) has also won awards for his home-brewed beer.

Esther Schindler is primary sysop of the ZD Net Executives Online forum and 
the User Group forum, senior contributing editor at OS/2 Magazine, and a 
well-known chocoholic (not necessarily in that order). While Bill insists 
that she can, indeed, program her way out of a paper bag (enough so that she 
helped write Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days), she has spent the last few 
years focusing on user issues and reviewing every OS/2 application she can 
get her hands on. She's also author of The Computer Speech Book and New 
Riders' Guide to Modems. She also serves as user group program chair, a 
corporate trainer on OS/2, and chief taste-tester for the aforementioned beer.

Neither of the Schindlers has ever been accused of taking themselves too 
seriously. They do, however, continue to believe that computers are really 
neat.