Your Reformation Has Begun

This is the point in this chapter and book where I will address you as if you had already decided to begin your reformation.

Tip

If you are undecided, please reread this chapter again. Remember, taking on new skills does not mean that you are being asked to forget all that you already know. Your legacy skills will ultimately set you apart from your peers. This is a good thing. You can offer valuable assistance in the harvest of legacy data while using nonmainframe technology.

From this point forward, you have my full support. However, you will need to be sure about your reformation. Do not expect to find much moral support for your new technological choices from your mainframe peers (I wish I could say that the opposite would be the case). Maybe you will be lucky enough to not experience the name -calling and cold shoulder treatment. Maybe your former coworkers will not refer to you as the traitor. I have seen this happen. This phenomenon has always reminded me of the scene viewed from the top of a pot of boiling lobsters. You know this scenario: An emerging comrade is pulled back down into the boiling water by the other lobsters so that they all die together. Now that is love.

Not to worry, the Microsoft .NET family of developers is waiting for you, ready to welcome you over to the other side with open arms. However, before you run toward these extended arms, you will want to prepare yourself. The remainder of this book will help you take full advantage of this warm reception . Be forewarned, though, first impressions do count. When your new peers see how serious you are about embracing "their" world, you will be welcomed as one of "them." So, as you emerge, prepare to grit your teeth as you occasionally hear snide remarks and jokes poking fun at the so-called stereotypical reformed mainframe programmer. Your skin will grow thick. One day soon, you will laugh again.

Spread the Word: Be an Evangelist!

Now, am I encouraging every mainframe programmer to quit his or her job? No, of course not. Am I running around sounding the alarm, ^[10] screaming that the sky is falling? Well, not really, but I would encourage you to view this as good reason to buy several more copies of this book as gifts for your fellow mainframe brothers and sisters, your closest mainframe buddies . ^[11] This would include those (soon-to-be) former coworkers who ridiculed you, the ones who were "trying to pull you back into the boiling water." Seriously, they will thank you.

^[10] Granted, I am an alarmist, which I know. Nevertheless, who would not have minded having an alarmist aboard the Titanic , alerting others about the shortage of flotation devices?

^[11] To obtain another copy, visit the Apress Web site ( http://www.apress.com/ ), Amazon.com ( http://www.amazon.com/ ), or your local bookstore.