AS/400
<computer> An
IBM minicomputer for small business and departmental users, released in 1988 and still in production in October 1998.
Features include a menu-driven interface, multi-user support, terminals that are (in the grand
IBM tradition) incompatible with anything else including the
IBM 3270 series, and an extensive library-based
operating system.
The machine survives because its
API layer allows the
operating system and application programs to take advantage of advances in hardware without recompilation and which means that a complete system that costs $9000 runs the exact same operating system and software as a $2 million system.
There is a 64-bit
RISC processor operating system implementation.
Programming languages include
RPG,
assembly language,
C,
COBOL,
SQL,
BASIC, and
REXX.
Several
CASE tools are available: Synon, AS/SET, Lansa.
Home (http://www.as400.ibm.com/).
