Compuware’s Workbench 3.0 adds GUI for mainframe app development

Compuware today announced the Compuware Workbench 3.0 for mainframe application development, scheduled for release in August, which at its core contains an Eclipse-based graphical user interface (GUI).  The GUI is sort of a bridge between the previous “mainframer” generation and the new “point-and-click” generation. Many IT organizations already use Eclipse for their Java development, and it is also ubiquitous in the college world. Compuware also isn’t totally abandoning the old way of doing things, by allowing programmers a choice between the GUI and the green screen or TSO/ISPF interface.  In its press release though, Compuware made it pretty clear what it thinks of the green screen by referring to it as an “outdated character-based development environment.” 

Is there a future in training new programmers with the nuances of a TSO/ISPF environment?  What do you think? Will the green screen be ditched completely?