This book provides a friendly, practical introduction to open source development options for programmers who build applications to run on IBM i computers. The book will help developers get started using open source, giving plenty of specific examples. The author dispenses guidance to help IBM i developers get into open source in a strategic way--for example, helping them to assess and evaluate the tools and platforms based on criteria such as their business needs, capabilities and flexibility of the open source technologies, and career development considerations. Readers will take away a clear understanding of open source on IBM i platforms and tools, how they fit in with IBM i app development, and the next steps they must take in order to start developing with open source technologies.