The primary benefits of the Tachyon Assembler Workbench result from the ability to develop and manage source code on workstations instead of the mainframe. The combined products that make up the Tachyon Assembler Workbench allow you to completely build and test assembler programs designed to run on the mainframe.
With the assembler available on a workstation, developers do not need to wait for mainframe batch turnaround, nor do developers need to perform foreground assemblies to avoid batch delays. Developers can even work while completely disconnected from the mainframe. Mainframe resources are not consumed for workstation development, preserving those resources for other users, and perhaps resulting in significant cost savings.
With the source code on the workstation, software developers can take advantage of the powerful development tools available for the workstation, such as editors, file search and compare utilities, and the make utility. Using cross-platform tools like the Tachyon Assembler Workbench for software development, mainframe resources are only consumed for final testing of programs, not while analyzing, editing, compiling or unit testing programs; thus reducing mainframe load while improving developer productivity.
Using workstation Software Configuration Management (SCM) tools can improve your ability to manage source code and improve the software build process, again while reducing mainframe load and software costs. During development, many organizations rebuild the system periodically using any recently checked-in source modules. Software systems must also be rebuilt after maintenance. The Tachyon Assembler Workbench can be used during these builds to avoid consuming mainframe resources.
The assembler included in the Tachyon Assembler Workbench can check for questionable assembler code. These checks are beyond those provided by the IBM assemblers. The powerful symbolic debugger also included in the Tachyon Assembler Workbench can also help you find and fix problems quickly. Correcting the problems discovered by the enhanced error checking may reduce your debugging time and expense, and prevent problems from occurring in production.
The Tachyon Assembler Workbench together with other cross-platform development tools such as the SAS/C Cross Platform Compiler, you can reduce the overall expense of mainframe software development while improving development productivity and software asset management.