Click here

Job Control Language

Abbreviated as JCL, Job Control Language is a means of communicating with the IBM 3090 MVS Operating System. JCL statements provide information that the operating system needs to execute a job.  A job is something that you want to accomplish with the aid of a mainframe computer (e.g. copy a data set, execute a program, or process multiple job steps). You need to supply the information that the job requires and instruct the computer what to do with this information. You do this with JCL statements. A job step consists of statements that control the execution of a program or procedure, request resources, and define input and/or output.
[Source: Job Control Language (JCL) Introduction]



Top Terms

Connect with Webopedia

  • What is 250 GB Data Usage?

    What is 250 GB (250 gigabytes) and why is this phrase so popular? Webopedia explains what the phrase 250 GB means in reference to data storage...

    Read More »

Did You Know? Archive »

  • Quick Reference Archive »