COMMON POWERUp 2025: Full Schedule

Unlock the Power of IBM i at POWERUp 2025!

Join us in Disneyland, California, for POWERUp 2025, the premier conference for IBM i professionals. Whether you’re an experienced expert or just starting your IBM i journey, this event offers unparalleled education, hands-on workshops, and valuable networking opportunities. Stay ahead of the curve with insights from industry leaders, explore the latest innovations, and connect with a thriving community that shares your passion for IBM i. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge, grow your skills, and power up your career!

10:00am PDT

What's New and Exciting in RPG

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT

South Ballroom A

Every year in Spring and again in Fall, IBM adds new features to the RPG language. In this session, you'll hear about all of the features that have been added recently, including a quick example of each feature. Once you know the features exist, you can use them in your own applications. Knowing what's new and exciting in RPG will allow you to take advantage of all of the new features in the language.

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
South Ballroom A 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

11:15am PDT

Modern RPG what does that mean?

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

Safari

You hear modern RPG but, what does that actually mean? we will look at converting from monolithic programs to modular programming including the use of service program and converting RLA(Record level access) to sql.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Innovative Software Solutions inc.

Marina started her career in January 2015 at Everbrite LLC in Greenfield WI after graduating from Gateway Technical College in May of 2014 with an Associate’s degree in IT Software Development. Marina worked for over nine years as a Senior Programmer Analyst/IBM i admin at Everbrite... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Safari 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

5:05pm PDT

Modern Data Structures, beyond the basics

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

Magic Ballroom 3

A quick introduction to a more advanced way of defining and using data structures. Learn better ways to define them, built in functions
that make it easier to manipulate them.

Speakers

Simon Hutchinson

Founder & author, RPGPGM.COM

Simon Hutchinson has been writing his highly acclaimed IBM i blog, RPGPGM.COM, for eleven years sharing his knowledge, experience, and giving many detailed examples of the latest RPG, SQL, and CL. His work has led him to be recognized by IBM as an IBM Champion for Power and IBM i Community Advocate. He is a subject matter expert for COMMON Americas, awarded... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Magic Ballroom 3 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

9:15am PDT

Options for Consuming REST APIs from RPG

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Castle

REST APIs have become a crucial technology for people writing business applications in all environments, and RPG on IBM i is no exception. In this session, Scott will explain what a REST API is, and how you can call them using free tools from your RPG program. Three different free options for calling them will be discussed, compared and contrasted.

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

10:45am PDT

SELF: Simon’s Experiences Learning this Feature

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Castle

SQL Error Logging Feature, SELF, is one of those Db2 tools that few know about, and even less have turned on. Learn about Simon Hutchinson’s experiences in setting up SELF, “turning” it on, and what he discovered using it. And what he used it for.

Speakers

Simon Hutchinson

Founder & author, RPGPGM.COM

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

4:30pm PDT

What the Heck is Binder Source and Why Do I Care?

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT

Nile

Discover what binder source is, what it's used for, and why you definitely want to use it with your service programs. We'll talk about binding, signatures and signature violations, and how to change service programs without having to recompile all your programs.

Speakers

Patrick Behr

Software Developer / Architect, Seiden Group

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT
Nile 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

5:05pm PDT

Preparing your RPG for the year 2040

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

North Ballroom A

The year 2040 is only 15 years away. Why is this an issue? Any 6 long date in your applications probably relies on the “1940” date rule. You are going to start thinking about what to do and how to identify all the places that this may cause a problem.

Simon Hutchinson will demonstrate some of the methods that IBM has given to help us start this journey.

Speakers

Simon Hutchinson

Founder & author, RPGPGM.COM

Simon Hutchinson Preparing your RPG for the year 2040 pdf

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
North Ballroom A 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

5:05pm PDT

Why Procedures Are Better Than Subroutines

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

Nile

Discover the super powers that procedures have(and subroutines don't) and how they can help you create more reliable and more easily maintained programs. We'll talk about the benefits of input parameters: local variables, and return values, error handling with on-exit, and increased functionality with recursion.

Speakers

Patrick Behr

Software Developer / Architect, Seiden Group

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Nile 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

8:00am PDT

The basics of moving from fixed format RPG to complete free form RPG.

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

Castle

Fixed format is still a heavily used code base and many developers need to be able to at least read it. But, what if you were able to read it and translate that into complete free form RPG? we will look at how to read fixed form RPG and give you the skills to actually translate into a more modern RPG.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Innovative Software Solutions inc.

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

8:00am PDT

Getting Started VS Code and IBM i Workshop

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT

South Ballroom B

Dive into VS Code and CODE for IBM i / DB2 extensions with this perfect starter Lab. Many RPG developers are unfamiliar with VS Code, and beginning with this IDE can feel daunting. This lab offers a introduction to both VS Code and the Code for IBM i / DB2 development environment. To Participate the attendee MUST BRING A LAPTOP! The attendee will receive access to an IBM i system to engage in lab tasks.
By the end of the lab:

The basics of VS Code.
Installing and VS Code extensions
Navigating the Code for IBM i development environment.

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT
South Ballroom B 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

10:45am PDT

SQL for the RPG Programmer “How To”: Working with SQL Services

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Castle

SQL is THE recommended interface from applications into your data. This session focuses on how using SQL services extends what you can do in these application.

Speakers

Vern Hamberg

Senior iSeries Developer, OneMain Financial

Vern has worked on IBM midrange systems for over 30 years, beginning with the System/38 and AS/400. At present he is a Senior iSeries Developer at OneMain Financial. He serves on the COMMON Strategic Education Team (SET), is one of the SMEs for Db2, and has served on the COMMON Americas... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

3:45pm PDT

Embedding SQL into Your Legacy RPG Programs

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT

Castle

Embedding SQL into legacy code can be scary. In this session we will explore embedding SQL into legacy code. I will demonstrate very simple methods to get started. We will explore some examples of simple SQL, work our way through reading from cursors and demonstrate how to convert physical files to SQL tables

Speakers

Gregory Simmons

Software Engineer, PC Richard & Son

Gregory Simmons is a Software Engineer at P.C. Richard & Son. He is a COMMON certified Application Developer – ILE RPG on IBM I on Power. He is also a registered instructor with IBM’s Academic Initiative and an RPG and IBM i instructor at Scott Regional Technology Center, where... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

5:00pm PDT

Mastering IBM i: Efficient Development with Optimized SQLRPG

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT

Castle

Understand how an IBMi developer can leverage their skills to efficiently scan source code using RPG. This opens doors to a multiple powerful and versatile applications like:

1) Impact Analyser: Perform impact analysis for field or file changes to identify all files and programs accessing a specific field.

2) Field Transformation: Display and modify all files and programs that utilize a specific field.

3) Object Dependencies: Identify all programs that are invoking the specific program.

4) Coding Standard Inspector: Analyse code to identify deviations from coding standards.

Equip developers with advanced embedded SQL techniques to build more robust, efficient, and maintainable RPG applications by enhancing data manipulation, retrieval, and performance.

1) SQL Cursors vs. RPG Op Codes: Cursors offer more flexibility, simplifying data handling and maintainability.

2) Single vs. Multiple Fetch: Choose single fetch for precision or multiple fetches for batch processing to optimize retrieval.

3) Performance Tools: Use query hints and execution plans to enhance SQL performance in RPG applications.

Speakers

Pavan Thute

Senior Software Engineer, Rocket Software, Rocket Software

Pavan is a Senior Software Engineer with 15 years of experience in IBM i technology, has worked as an AS400 developer, team lead, and corporate trainer.He has contributed to companies like IBM, ANZ, Mphasis, CETAS Shipping and conducted IBM i training for organizations such as UST... Read More →

Andrew Clark

Andrew Clark has been working on the IBM i platform for more than 30 years, beginning with the "secret Mankato Project" on a pre-release version of os/400, and an internship at IBM Rochester working on the Query team. He has development expertise in more than a dozen languages on... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

9:15am PDT

Breaking Up a Monolith

Thursday May 22, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Castle

Every RPG shop has them. Most developers avoid them like the plague. Large monolithic programs are a significant source of technical debt in all RPG shops. They limit your agility which in turn is detrimental to your business. So, once you are ready to deal with the issue, where do you start? There is no one answer, but there are steps you can take to begin dismantling and repurposing the code within these behemoths.

Speakers

Brian May

Vice President of Product Management, Profound Logic

Professional IT Leader, Speaker and WriterSpecialties:Team Building, Development and RetentionTechnical SalesSolutions ArchitectureSoftware DevelopmentEnterprise Systems Manufacturing ProcessesApparel IndustryAccounting Principles

Thursday May 22, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

11:15am PDT

Case Study: Improving performance in RPG programs with SQL

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

Castle

In this session, taken directly from my real-world experience, I will show you how I leveraged SQL in my RPG. I will walk you through the thought process, the incremental changes and the amazing results. Included in this session is also some simple code that you can take home and use in your development to compare and fine tune your embedded SQL.

Speakers

Gregory Simmons

Software Engineer, PC Richard & Son

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

3:30pm PDT

Aye, I love Procedure Driven RPG

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT

Castle

In this session, after demonstrating the fundamentals of a procedure, I will demonstrate the benefits of procedure driven RPG. Together, we’ll explore real world examples of how this mindset has improved code written by myself and my team with regards to three facets: Readability, maintainability and reusability. All three of these benefits translate into a more efficient development team.
We'll finish with some real world examples showing how AI code assistants can really shine when working in a world of procedures.

Speakers

Gregory Simmons

Software Engineer, PC Richard & Son

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Castle 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG

3:30pm PDT

RPG Code Assistant Repeat

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT

Magic Ballroom 2

Come and see an RPG code assistant specifically trained for RPG and IBM i.

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Edmund Reinhardt

IBM i Application Development Tools Lead, IBM

Edmund Reinhardt has been working on application development tools for IBM i for over 25 years. Starting with the green screen tools in 1989 through each technology iteration from OS/2 to Java. As the architect for Rational Developer for i, he is passionate about engaging and delighting... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Magic Ballroom 2 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programming: RPG