Consuming REST APIs in Gen’s CICS and Java applications

coauthored with Su Brude

Gen is embracing an open architecture

As more and more enterprise applications expand to a microservices architecture, interacting with other systems via APIs, our Gen customers said that what they really need is for all of their applications to interact seamlessly, including their Gen applications.

This aligns with Broadcom’s “embracing open” philosophy, which changes the conversation from what technology is available to what the business need is.

As much as I’d love every application to be built in Gen, that’s a narrow view of the opportunities for our product, and it doesn’t meet my customers’ needs. Which is why I’m so excited to announce our most recent enhancement, enabling Gen’s CICS and Java applications to consume (or call out to) external REST APIs.

How does consuming REST API’s benefit me?

Many applications publish programing interfaces (APIs) which enable external applications to access data. These APIs follow the REST architecture style. Hence the term REST APIs.

Gen customers asked for a way to have their applications consume those REST APIs. What you can do with that is endless, and dependent on the API you’re accessing. For example, maybe you own a car dealership. You learn that NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US) has a REST API with car safety information. So you configure your Gen application to consume the NHTSA car safety information and display it on your website.

Gen customers are excited about the many opportunities this uncovers, including the ability to:

• Create seamless interactions between applications.
• Offer enhanced functionality with access to real-time data.
• Modernize user experiences and enterprise infrastructure.

How do I get started?

Prerequisites:

• Gen customer generating applications in CICS or Java.
• Current on Gen v8.6: Toolset, Runtimes, Generators.

Everything you need to know to get started configuring your Gen applications to consuming REST APIs can be found in our Gen EDGE Community announcement HERE. The Gen EDGE Community is where we post all of the latest news about Gen, including new enhancements, roadmap and certification plans, training webcasts, etc. Join the Gen EDGE community to get automated notifications and always stay informed.