Rexx Language History

Rexx Language History

Welcome to the Rexx Language History page.

This page collects documents and links relating to the history of the Rexx, Object Rexx, and NetRexx programming languages, gleaned from many sources. For the latest news, tutorials, links, and other information about the languages and the Rexx ANSI standard, please visit the Rexx Language Association web site.

Rexx History

Rexx was initially developed from 1979 through 1982 as an internal IBM tool, and was first released as part of the IBM VM/SP3 operating system product in 1983. Since then there have been numerous Rexx implementations, for all major platforms. It has been estimated that, to date, well over two million people have written programs in Rexx, Object Rexx, or NetRexx.

Here you'll find:

a brief history of Rexx
the background of Rexx (from The Rexx Language)
the Rexx books list and information about the Rexx Language and NetRexx Language books
a list of Rexx implementations
historical Rexx documents and announcements (and some early Rexx programs)
the documentation, source code, etc. for Compact Rexx (CRX) by Brian Marks
Rexx Symposium reports (by Melinda Varian)
a summary of Rexx advantages and disadvantages.

Background Information

For current information on Rexx, and more background, try these links:

the Rexx Language Association (RexxLA)
the X3.274 ANSI Standard for Rexx current and future work, errata, etc.
the Wikipedia article on REXX
Rexx Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (by Dave Martin and Eric Giguere)
a list of Rexx, Object Rexx, and NetRexx books, papers, and manuals
information about the Rexx Language and NetRexx Language books
an excerpt (Background) from The Rexx Language
the IBM Rexx Documentation and Support page
the IBM Rexx Family page
Keith Watts’ Classic Rexx tutorial/reference.

Requests and suggestions?

This information is collected and maintained by Mike Cowlishaw. Please send your requests and suggestions for additional items (and report any errors or omissions) using e-mail to mfc@speleotrove.com

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Ian Collier, Eric Giguere, Gabe Goldberg, and Melinda Varian for permission to use their documents and data in this collection, and to Liz Holland for finding many of the historical announcement documents. I am also indebted to IBM for the opportunity to develop Rexx in the first place, and for the permission to reproduce the extracts from IBM documentation here.

Copyright © Mike Cowlishaw 1973, 2020, except where stated otherwise. Parts Copyright IBM 1974, 2003; used by permission. All rights reserved.
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