The Tachyon Assembler Workbench provides a way for you to assemble, execute and debug System/370, 370-XA, ESA/370, ESA/390 and z/Architecture assembler language programs on workstation machines. You can even execute and debug programs written in other languages, such as C. The Tachyon Assembler Workbench provides the tools you need to manage downloaded source, macro and load libraries and data files. When you are done, you can upload the tested application to the mainframe knowing it will run.
The Tachyon Assembler Workbench is a cross platform development tool. This means you can use one platform, such as Windows or UNIX to develop programs for another platform, such as OS/390. Cross platform development allows you to take advantage of the price/performance of your chosen development platform while delivering the function that your users need on the mainframe.
Development costs are one very good reason to use cross platform development. Almost all programmers already have powerful computers right on their desks. The power of these computers can be used for mainframe development without the need to consume mainframe resources. Mainframe resources can be reserved for production workloads, which is what mainframes are best at. Using cross platform development tools saves mainframe resources while providing a more productive development environment. Programmers can even work completely disconnected from the mainframe most of the time.
Another reason to use cross platform development is to take advantage of the power of the Windows and UNIX development software currently available. The Tachyon Assembler Workbench components can be used from many of the popular Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) such as Microsoft Visual Studio and IBM's Visual Age. You can also use the platform’s make utility to automate the build process for mainframe software. Most development organizations create software for more than one platform. With server-based source code control systems together with cross platform development tools, all of your source code can be controlled from a common location.