IBM Z® Open Editor

IBM enterprise language support for COBOL, PL/I, HLASM, REXX, and JCL in VS Code

IBM Z® Open Editor

A free modern editing experience for IBM Z Enterprise languages

About

IBM Z® Open Editor is for developers interested in Z enterprise application development, especially those who prefer a modern development environment. By bringing IBM z/OS language support to one of today’s most popular code editors, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), IBM Z Open Editor gives developers the freedom to code in COBOL, PL/I, High-Level Assembler, REXX, or JCL using the same editor they can use for languages such as Java and JavaScript. IBM Z Open Editor is a FREE, easily downloadable extension in Visual Studio Code’s marketplace.

What's new

ANNOUNCEMENT

May 29th, 2026

IBM Developer for z/OS on VS Code 6.5.1 released.

See details here

BLOG

December 10th, 2024

COBOL and PL/I preprocessor support by IBM Z® Open Editor.

Read the blog

BLOG

September 19th, 2024

Introducing Z Open Editor's z/OS Resources Table.

Read the blog

ANNOUNCEMENT

March 15th, 2024

IBM Z Open Editor v4.0.0 released adding new capabilities and licensing model.

See details here

View all past announcements

Features

Getting started

The procedure to get started with IBM Z® Open Editor is summarized as follows:

Get the latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

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Install the prerequisites (a Java™ 21 runtime environment as a minimum)

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Install the IBM Z Open Editor

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4 (Optional)

Set up integrations for extended capabilities, such as installing IBM RSE API Plug-in for Zowe CLI to interact with z/OS

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Tutorials

Learn about key user interface capabilities and views, which are most relevant for working with COBOL, PL/I, and HLASM program files:

COBOL editing

For the tutorial, you will assume the role of COBOL developer who has received requirements to enhance the Daily Customer File Update Report of the SAM application

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HLASM editing

For the tutorial, you will assume the role of an HLASM developer who has received a requirement to enhance the output from ASAM1 to also write the hexedecimal value of a character string. The current version simply reads in a string from an input file, and writes the record number, column number headings, and the input string to an output file.

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REXX editing tutorial

For the tutorial, you will assume the role of a REXX developer who has received a requirement to enhance the output from RSAM1 to display the contents of the output file which is a combination of the two input files. The current version simply reads in two files and writes the records to an output file.

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Managing z/OS resources with IBM RSE API Plug-in for Zowe CLI

This tutorial demonstrates some features of IBM RSE API Plug-in for Zowe CLI (RSE CLI plug-in) and includes exercises to help you become familiar with managing z/OS resources via command-line operations and the Zowe Explorer VS Code extension.

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View all of the tutorials available

Feedback

Your feedback is important to us. Tell us what you think about the experience by taking the survey or creating an issue in GitHub. Join the Wazi Developer Community and stay up-to-date with the latest news and discussions.

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Join the "Development and Pipeline" IBM TechXchange community

Create issue in GitHub