Part 1: Get Set Up

By the end of Part 1, you’ll have written, compiled, and run your first RPG program on a real IBM i server — using the same tooling modern IBM i shops use in production. No corporate accounts, no software purchases, no special hardware.

Expect to spend roughly 60 to 90 minutes working through this part, most of which is waiting for installers to finish. The actual thinking work is light.

What you’ll have at the end

  • A free personal IBM i account at PUB400.com, with two private libraries and 500 MB of storage
  • Visual Studio Code installed with the full IBM i Development Pack
  • A working connection from VS Code to your IBM i
  • A set of practice tables populated with realistic sample data, ready for the tutorials in Parts 2 and 3
  • Your first working RPG program — compiled and running

Chapter-by-chapter

  1. What you’re learning — what IBM i and RPG actually are, and why they’re worth learning in 2026
  2. Sign up for PUB400 — get your free public IBM i account
  3. Install VS Code — the editor we’ll use for everything
  4. Install the IBM i Development Pack — the VS Code extensions that understand IBM i
  5. Connect to PUB400 — point VS Code at your new account
  6. Create your practice tables — a SQL script that builds the tables the tutorials use
  7. Hello World — your first compiled and running RPG program

Work through them in order. Each chapter tells you what to do and what to verify before moving on.

Table of contents