COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all • Hacker News Board

Re: COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all

#11

Post by xivzgrev » Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 4:22 AM UTC

Zdnet writer: “why is COBOL still around?”

Cobol vendor: “well let me tell you how widely it’s still used”

Zdnet writer: “k thx.” sends to editor

It would’ve been way more interesting to get even one customer perspective, say from a bank. Why do they still use COBOL? (Answer: it powers critical infrastructure, it’s risky as hell to migrate, and the benefit isn’t worth the cost right now vs investing elsewhere)

Re: COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all

#12

Post by dang » Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 4:29 AM UTC

You don't like this COBOL article? Try this COBOL article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21288415

Re: COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all

#13

Post by bdrhoa » Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 11:55 AM UTC

It's COBOL, not Cobol. And I keep my COBOL textbook to ensure that I never have to work in COBOL again. I'm certain that as soon as let that textbook, I'll end up needing it.

Re: COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all

#14

Post by mindcrime » Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 3:08 PM UTC

maxharris wrote: post #4

This is just Micro Focus astroturfing! They don't have a business in a world where banks and government agencies have written their software in a modern language. Here's a comment I made a month ago about another thinly-veiled Micro Focus press release: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20987206

Oh please... Yes, Micro-Focus is mentioned, and for all I know a Micro-Focus employee might have written the piece. But they're only mentioned in passing, and the bulk of the article is a solid coverage of the history of COBOL, which is interesting in its own right. If MF get a little extra attention as a result of people reading this, I - for one - am not going to begrudge them that.

Re: COBOL turns 60: why it will outlive us all

#15

Post by mindcrime » Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

bdrhoa wrote: post #13

It's COBOL, not Cobol. And I keep my COBOL textbook to ensure that I never have to work in COBOL again. I'm certain that as soon as let that textbook, I'll end up needing it.

I originally wrote the headline as COBOL, but HN has some sort of "auto headline munger" that munged it to Cobol. I see it's subsequently been set back to COBOL, presumably by one of the mods.