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GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

sourceforge.net

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Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#201

Post by jussij »

koolba wrote: post #198
hansor wrote: post #62

Its awful that most people here are criticizing COBOL, yet they don't even know it, but they just "heard bad things about it". In my country and in Sweden it is quite easy to get good and stable job in banking/insurance/consulting business with Cobol on Z/OS. Salary is around 10-30k PER MONTH. Around 3x more then in let's say Java.

> Salary is around 10-30k PER MONTH. Around 3x more then in let's say Java. What currency? The kroner is with about $.12 so that’s not particularly enticing.

Since the OP offers a relative comparison in saying COBOL jobs pay three times more than a Java jobs, the currency or any currency conversion to $USD really doesn't matter.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#202

Post by anadem »

rhabarba wrote: post #189
pbourke wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not the language but the ecosystem that’s a barrier to entry. Do you have a z series in your garage to hack around with?

COBOL even exists on Windows these days. Combined with a mainframe editor simulation like SPF, it all comes to fruition in some way.

> COBOL even exists on Windows these days

"these days"?? COBOL has been available on Windows since Windows 3.1, and was even a commercial success on DOS in pre-Windows days. Yes, it was principally used in finance on mainframes, but the mini- and micro-computer implementations were fully ANSI standard, and included extensions for CICS and other mainframe stuff.

(I worked on DOS COBOL runtime support, then OS/2, then Windows ...)

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#203

Post by throwaway201103 »

randmeerkat wrote: post #156
hansor wrote: post #62

Its awful that most people here are criticizing COBOL, yet they don't even know it, but they just "heard bad things about it". In my country and in Sweden it is quite easy to get good and stable job in banking/insurance/consulting business with Cobol on Z/OS. Salary is around 10-30k PER MONTH. Around 3x more then in let's say Java.

Do these jobs train you in on COBOL, or do you have to be an expert in it already? If you have to be an expert already how are people learning COBOL / preparing for the interview to get this kind of job?

If you're experienced in another language, you can learn COBOL in a week or two. My first job out of school was with a consulting firm that would take new-hire non-programmers and have them on a client site writing COBOL in 3-4 weeks.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#204

Post by wombatpm »

fiftyacorn wrote: post #125
nonamenoslogan wrote: post #110

I've spent the last three years translating COBOL programs off of an HP3000 in to to SQL-backended web-apps and can say as a non-Programmer who was given a pile of COBOL source to decompile, I like its simplicity and ease of readability. Most of the code is from the 80's or 90's but is well commented and easy to work with and understand. Speaking of, most of this code still works or was in use until 2-3 years ago--on…

The importance of the comments in COBOL reminds me of a developer I worked with who was famous for removing comments to 'tidy up the code' The other developers then spent time readding the comments

Comments in code are like sex. When they are good its incredible, when they are bad it’s better than nothing

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#205

Post by zoom6628 »

I used to wonder why so many different programming languages and why so many opinions about them.

After couple of decades i learnt about Domain Specific Language (DSL) concept.

I started out coding COBOL and some assembler after learning Pascal and others during education. I now code in python, c, c# or whatever us best fit.

My opinion and experience suggests these are all DSL just as COBOL was probably one of the first. It is excellent for business logic and business transaction oriented data processing.

Like all languages and tools the in output is mostly unreliable garbage in the hands of the ignorant and unskilled/ill-disciplined.

I don't think the popularity of languages is as much to do with their technical merits add it is about the community that builds around each. Each community if like a tribe and the tribes have norms arising from their environment and common needs.

My 2c.

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#206

Post by testrun »

retrac wrote: post #111
rhabarba wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite a few companies have specialized in migrating COBOL to C# or Java code, so I’m not surprised. I wonder why they choose those languages as one-trick ponies though. Seems like the “we only have a hammer” problem.

Java would be the safest bet for the "other" language known by a COBOL programmer.

Why?

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#209

Post by galoisgirl »

kjs3 wrote: post #143
the_only_law wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would kill to get a personal mainframe though. Read a story some time ago about some guy who snagged one from a government auction. Sadly they never have anything cool when I look.

I remember that story. I don't think he ever got it working. There's a lot to getting a real mainframe running, starting with some onerous licensing terms for the software. And the cost to power one would be ugly. There were some actual 'personal mainframes' made by IBM. The PC/370 was a PC or PC/AT with a set of ISA bus mainframe processor addin cards. The PC became the I/O processor. The PC/390 was a later version…

He did, his talk about it is really interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45X4VP8CGtk

> He and his old computer friends played around with some applications that were on the platform, and even made an FTP server that put some data on the internet.

Per https://www.fastcompany.com/3063265/this-teenage-ibm-employe...

Re: GnuCOBOL 3.1.1

#210

Post by blippage »

wombatpm wrote: post #204
fiftyacorn wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The importance of the comments in COBOL reminds me of a developer I worked with who was famous for removing comments to 'tidy up the code' The other developers then spent time readding the comments

Comments in code are like sex. When they are good its incredible, when they are bad it’s better than nothing

Sex is like a game of Bridge. If you don't have a good partner, then you'd better have a strong hand.
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