GnuCOBOL 3.1.1 • Hacker News Board

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#21

Post by simias » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:45 PM UTC

And they say only Rust makes it to the front page of HN.

More seriously is this release particularly notable in the COBOL world? I know very little about the language and I find it odd to find the Changelog of a minor release at the top of the frontpage.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#22

Post by nix23 » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:49 PM UTC

speeder wrote: post #5

Sometimes I wonder if I should learn COBOL just so maybe I can get my first real programming job. (and no, I am not joking...)

I say YES do it, learn COBOL and Mainframes, don't listen to others who say Mainframe is a thing of the past, it's here to stay. Just talk with leading positions in Insurance/Finance government maybe?, they are more then happy to find someone who is motivated and eager to learn, AND they have the money and time to support and build-you-up (Training mentors certs licenses etc.).

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#23

Post by rhabarba » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:49 PM UTC

simias wrote: post #21

And they say only Rust makes it to the front page of HN. More seriously is this release particularly notable in the COBOL world? I know very little about the language and I find it odd to find the Changelog of a minor release at the top of the frontpage.

GnuCOBOL seems to be the de-facto standard COBOL implementation on Unix-like platforms these days, so (at least) it is a notable software. They seem to have no actual blog, so the changelog is the best news link I could come up with...

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#24

Post by simias » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:49 PM UTC

Koshkin wrote: post #17

I do not get all the hatred. The idea behind COBOL’s syntax is the same as SQL’s: it is merely yet another “Structured English Query/Programming Language” designed, initially, for non-programmers to be able to describe in words what it is they would like to accomplish in a way they could be understood by the computer.

Whose hatred? I don't think I've seen anybody really hate on COBOL, it's just mostly irrelevant for modern programmers and people like to mock the FULL CAPS ULTRA VERBOSE SYNTAX (something that COBOL programmers themselves routinely do, see ADD 1 TO COBOL GIVING COBOL).

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#25

Post by rhabarba » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

johannes1234321 wrote: post #18

peter_retief wrote: post #11

I think I may have started a course in COBOL many years ago. Wonder if would be worth learning it now? There is a lot of COBOL code that needs to be maintained.

If you want to have a career in large corporations keeping a decades old codebase alive it can be a good way, which might be saner than many startups. If you however want to build up something new and put your heart into it and revolutionize the world it probably isn't.

Revolutionizing the world with COBOL? Game’s on!

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#26

Post by rhabarba » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:51 PM UTC

bjarneh wrote: post #16

Keeping it old school with sourceforge of course

Keeping the sources in SCCS would make it harder to pull the whole archive, I guess.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#27

Post by michaelcampbell » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

Koshkin wrote: post #17

I do not get all the hatred. The idea behind COBOL’s syntax is the same as SQL’s: it is merely yet another “Structured English Query/Programming Language” designed, initially, for non-programmers to be able to describe in words what it is they would like to accomplish in a way they could be understood by the computer.

COBOL put me through undergrad, so I'm ok with it.

And, it was developed long before a lot of modern compiler theory was even thought of, so it's going to be a little unfamiliar to those used to "modern" languages.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#28

Post by rhabarba » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:53 PM UTC

simias wrote: post #24

Koshkin wrote: post #17

I do not get all the hatred. The idea behind COBOL’s syntax is the same as SQL’s: it is merely yet another “Structured English Query/Programming Language” designed, initially, for non-programmers to be able to describe in words what it is they would like to accomplish in a way they could be understood by the computer.

Whose hatred? I don't think I've seen anybody really hate on COBOL, it's just mostly irrelevant for modern programmers and people like to mock the FULL CAPS ULTRA VERBOSE SYNTAX (something that COBOL programmers themselves routinely do, see ADD 1 TO COBOL GIVING COBOL).

I disagree with your definition of modern programmers. I mean, we still emulate VT100 terminals on our 2020 MacBooks (poorly), so the implication that everything old must be renewed is - in theory - good, but COBOL is probably not the first thing that comes to my mind here...

Modern COBOL does not enforce CAPS LOCK anymore though - and you can even skip the 7-columns indentation if you wish!

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#29

Post by michaelcampbell » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

Bostonian wrote: post #13

enriquto wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for me it's "import pandas as pd"

What's wrong with that? I have seen it often in books and other places.

I suspect they are more suspicious of `pandas` than the syntax of the import. But, I'm also curious as to why.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#30

Post by michaelcampbell » Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

peter_retief wrote: post #20

johannes1234321 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to have a career in large corporations keeping a decades old codebase alive it can be a good way, which might be saner than many startups. If you however want to build up something new and put your heart into it and revolutionize the world it probably isn't.

I love learning new languages, I have worked with MUMPS

I'm so sorry.