Re: [PLUG] [plug-announce] Wed, Feb 1, 2017: PLUG Central - "Secrets of the Dead: What Modern Programmers Can Learn from COBOL" by Walt Mankowski (7pm at USP)

[Walt Mankowski <waltman@pobox.com>]

Was the part at the end about Django left over from last month? My
talk will last a full hour.

Walt

On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 02:43:10PM -0500, Paul L. Snyder wrote:
> NOTE: Please check the PLUG website before heading out on Wednesday
> in case of weather-related cancellations.
> 
> PLUG Central will be meeting on Wednesday, February 1, at USP in 
> Philadelpha, beginning at 7pm. Directions to the meeting location 
> at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia can be found at 
> the end of this email. 
> 
> This month, PLUG West welcomes back Dr. Walt Mankowski, who will be
> giving a talk entitled "Secrets of the Dead: What Modern Programmers
> Can Learn from COBOL". Walt has previously given versions of this talk
> at FOSSCON 2016, PLUG West, and PLUG North.
>    
>   COBOL is the Rodney Dangerfield of the programming world - it
>   doesn't get any respect. COBOL is routinely denigrated for its
>   verbosity and dismissed as archaic, and for good reason: COBOL
>   bears little to no resemblance to modern programming languages.
>   Yet COBOL is far from a dead language. COBOL processes an
>   estimated 85% of all business transactions, and 5 billion new
>   lines of COBOL are written every year.
> 
>   I spent 10 years as a COBOL developer and saw first-hand the
>   good and the bad of the language. Many of its criticisms are
>   valid, and most PLUG attendees would probably be appalled at
>   COBOL's syntax. But as COBOL approaches its 7th decade of
>   active use, it's worth remembering that there are a few things
>   that COBOL got spectacularly right, particularly in its primary
>   niche in mainframe business programming. These include:
> 
>     * Separation of code, presentation, and operating environment
>     * Datatypes to handle decimal currency amounts
>     * Reading and writing fixed-length records
> 
>   And that appalling syntax is simple enough that even
>   non-programmers can learn the basics in a few hours.
> 
>   Attendees will come away with old techniques they can apply to
>   their new systems, and a new-found respect for their elders.
> 
> This month, PLUG Central will feature a talk by Anthony Marti
> who whill be presenting an introduction to Django, a Python-based
> web framework. The presention will give an overview of Django,
> and will include an example of getting a new project running
> using RHEL/CentOS 7, Python 3.4, Django 1.8.x, and Apache.
> 
>   https://www.djangoproject.com/
> 
> University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP) 
> Griffith Hall (Room "C" or "A", look for the signs) 
> 600 South 43rd Street 
> Philadelphia, PA 19104-4495 
> 
> USP is located in University City. Driving directions are 
> available at http://www.phillylinux.org/locations/usp.html, or 
> http://www.usip.edu/directions, both of which have an aerial 
> view of the campus buildings. USP is also easily accessible by 
> public transportation. 
> 
> There will be an open Question & Answer session at 7PM, prior to 
> the main presentation at 8PM. This is an open meeting; all are 
> welcome and encouraged to attend. 
> 
> Usually, a number of members get together after the meeting at a 
> nearby restaurant for food and perhaps a beer or two. Come join 
> the camaraderie! 
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
> ___________________________________________________________________________
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