Ever worked for IBM?

Apparently if I had helped implemented JCL at IBM (see below) I wouldn't need to be taking computer science at university right now. Sounds scary . Actually, I just dove headfirst into Linux/C/Linux Programming a few weeks ago as part of a summer break self-improvement project. (Chose that over a job while I still could.) For the teaching, I started with the K&R and I'm working on Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment by W. R. Stevens. (And, of course, the internet.) For the expirience, well-- I'm programming for my favorite toy. What I've chosen to write is simply what I want my empeg to do that it can't.

A quick googling for "IBM job control" turned up this:

Job Control Language (JCL) IBM's supremely rude script language, used to control the execution of programs in IBM OS/360's batch systems. JCL has a very fascist syntax, and some versions will, for example, barf if two spaces appear where it expects one.

Most programmers confronted with JCL simply copy a working file, changing the file names. Someone who actually understands and generates unique JCL is regarded with the mixed respect one gives to someone who memorises the phone book.

I think I'll wait 'til I get that mainframe in before I start on that.