Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 3.0 for Visual Studio 2017 > Welcome

Welcome

Note: Check the Product Documentation section of the Micro Focus SupportLine Web site and the Micro Focus Infocenter for any updates to the documentation which might have been uploaded.

This Welcome section includes information for new and existing customers about how to install and license the product, an overview of application development, changes from previous releases, any tutorials and samples.

If you are new to Enterprise Developer, check Where do I start? in this section.

You should also read the Help on Help topic for details on how to use this documentation.

Product overview

Enterprise Developer is a contemporary development suite for Microsoft Visual Studio or Eclipse that allows mainframe developers to maintain, develop and modernize mainframe applications environments regardless of whether these are to be deployed back on the mainframe or onto an alternative platform.

Enterprise Developer supports IBM COBOL, IBM PL/I, IBM Assembler, IBM CICS, IBM IMS, IBM JCL, IBM DB2, IBM z/OS file formats and common batch utilities, including SORT. This means that you can develop and maintain the core mainframe online and batch applications under Enterprise Developer. You can then deploy these applications back on the mainframe or migrate them onto one of the Micro Focus Linux, UNIX or Windows-based production platforms.

Types of licenses

Micro Focus offers Enterprise Developer with the following licensing options that unlock different functionality:

Micro Focus Enterprise Developer: Enterprise Developer is for customers looking to develop and modernize mainframe applications in a productive and modern Windows-based development environment, targeted for deployment onto an alternate server platform. Developers have the choice of either the Visual Studio or the Eclipse-based IDE and development and test tools are provided for all target environments currently supported by Micro Focus.
Micro Focus Enterprise Developer Connect: Enterprise Developer Connect is for customers looking to use modern and productive Eclipse-based tooling to develop mainframe applications directly on the mainframe. Close integration to mainframe configuration management systems and the ability to easily customize the Eclipse-based IDE to include mainframe-based tools and processes means developers can take full advantage of modern development tools without having to learn new development processes.
Micro Focus Enterprise Developer for IBM zEnterprise: Enterprise Developer for IBM zEnterprise gives customers the choice to develop directly on the mainframe or under Windows. Mainframe applications can be developed, maintained and modernized regardless of where they will be deployed, either back onto the mainframe or onto an alternative server environment. Support is provided for both the Visual Studio and Eclipse-based IDEs and for all the development and test tools for every target environment currently supported by Micro Focus - including z/Linux, AIX and x86 environments. Enterprise Developer for IBM zEnterprise combines all the capabilities of Enterprise Developer Connect and Enterprise Developer.
Full mainframe integration and the Application Workflow Manager are only available in the Eclipse-based IDE.

Note: The Enterprise Developer Personal Edition option is not available with this release. You can use the Personal Edition with Enterprise Developer 2.1 Update 1 - you can register for it on the Enterprise Developer Personal Edition section on the Micro Focus Web site.