2075 HN: Ask HN: Any active Java devs here? What LLM do you use?
In 2075 that will be like asking blacksmiths what kind of anvil they use.
Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
111–120 of 193 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#112I worked as a cobol dev in my first fulltime job. I did mostly cobol85 (microfocus) and object-cobol (netexpress/fujitsu cobol), with isam files. Did the whole "migrate to year 2000" process in a couple of big but old applications (healthcare management software and manufacturing management software). Cobol is a school by itself; there are so many ways you can shoot yourself in the foot that one either learn how to structure programs avoid a spaguetti mess, or slowly descend into madness trying to fix bugs :)
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#113My brother works with COBOL for a bank here in Brazil, he is young (in his 20s), started before finishing his degree. Pay is poor, hours are insane, he is overworked as hell, and anything “modern”, like git, is out of the question. He’s trying to learn Go now and modernize himself to see if he can get out. I’m trying to help as much as I can. Hopefully, he’ll land a job somewhere else this year.
at the banking place I work running things in k8s, z/OS-people are actually the ones running custom git clients in go on z/OS. Bonus: they have no nosy Java devs (recurringly producing threading bugs...) saying "but we all use spring boot!!!" and likely no manager asking "is this cloud-ready???"
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#114I know some COBOL devs. They work in a bank. They wouldn't hang around here though.
Where would they hang around? Curious to learn about other programming/tech communities
I worked in an IBM mainframe shop as my first job. The COBOL devs for the most part did not participate in programming/tech communities. It was a 9-5 job and they didn't think about it otherwise. Maybe they would have a subscription to Datamation magazine or something like that but I doubt it.
But keep in mind there was no internet, no podcasts, no youtube. If you needed to learn something you learned it at work, on work time. If something new was introduced, IBM came in and conducted training, at work. For something big you might get sent to an IBM training center for a week. There was no need for (and no real way to do) any learning on your own outside of work.
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#115Not a COBOL dev myself but for many years I worked in government healthcare for my state. Probably 75% of developers and BAs for the organization were working to support an extremely large mainframe system(s). I worked as a web developer and we had to use a product called Hostbridge that allowed our web applications to interface with the mainframe via javascript.
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#116I am not a COBOL dev but have worked on a few codes here and there. I played around with LLM and it appears to be not too bad at COBOL, what’s the consensus or your experience utilizing LLM for COBOL?
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
But the code still has to work. LLC's and other corporate structures only protect the owners if the company goes bankrupt, which it will if its systems stop working. Ditto with market control, it's not some permanent crown you achieve. Companies have to keep performing to keep their market share. E.g., if you opened an account at a major bank, and your transactions started failing, would you keep banking there?
> E.g., if you opened an account at a major bank, and your transactions started failing, would you keep banking there? A lot of people who land in that situation do continue banking there since they are either tied into that bank through loans/debt, or lack the time/energy to move elsewhere.
This situation would lead to immediate and extremely severe legal and commercial consequences for the bank, even if it's JP Morgan.
The argument that a market leader can screw up because it "owns" the market is not correct. Where's Xerox / IBM / Intel now?
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#118I do other things besides COBOL but I maintain and occasionally enhance many COBOL applications:
- Item Database (SKU, UPC, attributes)
- Stock Status (Sales, Onhands, process sales transactions from POS systems)
- Replenishment (Create vendor and DC orders to stores)
- Reporting (Report sales and other performance data by stores, departments, classes, etc..)
- Pricing (make and maintain current and future price changes, send to store when needed).
- Many other applications (15+)
They have been saying they are going to get rid of these applications for over 20 years now. I am still waiting...
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#1192075 HN: Ask HN: Any active Java devs here? What LLM do you use?
C++77 is coming soon, better study what's coming.
Re: Ask HN: Any active COBOL devs here? What are you working on?
#120For my sins, I work in Education supporting PeopleSoft. That means that I do work in COBOL on occasion. I am not tasked with writing anything new in COBOL, but I so quite a bit of analysis and support. That is: I _read_ COBOL more than I write it.
There are three flavors of COBOL that I deal with: PeopleSoft delivered, Vendor delivered, and University modified. Most of the work I do in COBOL breaks down to reading the code to determine why a given behavior is observed. Only once (in University modified code) have I needed to make an actual edit. The rest of the times I either modify the flow of information into the COBOL code or I modify the resultant after the code has run.