| Steve Litt via plug on 12 Apr 2022 09:55:43 -0700 |
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| Re: [PLUG] Fw: [plug-announce] Tue Apr 12 - PLUG North - "Modern Cobol" by Elizabeth Joseph and Walt Mankowski (7pm EDT online) |
I'm looking forward to it! Thanks Walt! SteveT Walt Mankowski via plug said on Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:28:58 -0400 >Hi Steve, > >Thanks for advertising tonight's meeting on your list. Hopefully we'll >get a nice crowd! > >There's a lot to unpack here. I'll cover some of it in the talk. Other >points I won't since my talk is structured as a gentle introduction >to why COBOL is the way it is, rather than a tutorial on everything >you can do in COBOL. > >Walt > >On Tue, Apr 12, 2022 at 02:11:27AM -0400, Steve Litt via plug wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> Tuesday 4/12/2022 at 7pm Eastern time sharp, Philly Lug (not the >> Phoenix LUG we usually pair up with) presents on COBOL via Jitsi, >> https://meet.jit.si/PLUGNorthApril2022 . I might be there. Some facts >> about COBOL you might not know: >> >> * The language has built in indexed sequential files for lightning >> fast data access. >> >> * Many modern COBOLs can interface to many modern SQL databases. >> >> * Millions and millions of lines of 40 year old COBOL are still doing >> their job quite well. Same software, always improving hardware. >> >> * All COBOL programs were either abandoned or Y2K retrofitted in the >> late 1990's, so there are no foreseeable cataclysms coming down the >> pike. >> >> * Although many or most businesses rewrote their software in other >> languages, some saw the performance of Java, C++, Python, PHP, >> Perl, Note.js, React, Vue, Rails and the like and said nahhh, I'll >> just keep updating my COBOL. >> >> * COBOL is very, very good at massive data manipulation. >> >> * The majority of COBOL programmers are in old peoples' homes or in >> that great data center in the sky (with GoLUGgers Homer Whitaker >> and Gary Miller), so there are very few competent COBOL programmers >> remaining. >> >> * COBOL programmers are so needed that companies are training young >> people to program COBOL on the company dime. >> >> * It's not easy to get a COBOL job because the jobs are hidden away, >> but work at good pay can be gotten by someone somewhat proficient >> at COBOL and proficient at searching for work. >> >> * COBOL has very little Geek Pazazz, so COBOL programmers might have >> less competition than you might imagine. >> >> * COBOL changes very slowly, so it's a pretty good profession for the >> programmer with other priorities such as kids, spouse and family. >> >> * If you're 45 right now, it's conceivable you could learn COBOL and >> make a living with COBOL until you're in your 70's. I'm not so sure >> I'd recommend it to a 20 year old. >> >> * COBOL stands for COmmon Business Oriented Language, created >> approximately in 1960. It was made for business. >> >> * COBOL has built in sort and merge. This was a very big deal before >> the mid 1980's, when separate merge programs became cheaper. Unix >> had a sort program early, I don't know how early. In a big, hairy >> program, it's still nice to handle this kind of stuff in-house. >> >> * COBOL can do recursion: >> https://www.microfocus.com/documentation/visual-cobol/VC23/VS2015/HHPTCHPTIP12.html >> >> * COBOL has a type called "procedure-pointer", which I believe can >> empower COBOL to use and be used as a callback function: >> https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/developer-for-zos/9.1.1?topic=clause-procedure-pointer-phrase >> >> * COBOL now has Object Orientation if you want to use it. >> >> * COBOL was created in 1960 or >> thereabouts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL >> >> * In college (1983) I personally created a COBOL program whose input >> was a COBOL program's source code and whose output was a hierarchy >> diagram showing all loops, branches, and paragraph calls. >> >> SteveT >> >> >> >> ============================================================== >> Begin forwarded message: >> >> Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2022 19:04:25 -0400 >> From: Walt Mankowski via plug-announce via plug >> <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> To: plug-announce@lists.phillylinux.org >> Subject: [PLUG] [plug-announce] Tue Apr 12 - PLUG North - "Modern >> Cobol" by Elizabeth Joseph and Walt Mankowski (7pm EDT online) >> >> >> Last minute change of plans! >> >> Thanks to the COBOL discussion today, we're going to devote this >> month's meeting to Modern COBOL. >> >> First, PLUG North welcomes back Elizabeth Joseph. Liz is a developer >> advocate at IBM. She'll be on the call from 7-8 PM to talk about a >> new report from the Open Mainframe Project COBOL Working Group. Then >> I'll be giving an encore presentation of a talk I did at PLUG back in >> 2017 called "Secrets of the dead: What modern programmers can learn >> from COBOL". >> >> For what to expect, Liz says her part will be "not so formal, but >> chatty". I've got a proper presentation, but it's more about giving a >> flavor of what programming in COBOL is like vs a formal tutorial. >> >> We'll be using Jitsi Meet, a free and open source videoconferencing >> platform, for the meeting. The meeting will start at 7 PM EDT (2300 >> UTC). Liz can only stay on until 8 so we'll try to start promptly at >> 7 this month. >> >> You can access the meeting online at >> >> https://meet.jit.si/PLUGNorthApril2022 >> >> Jitsi Meet also has apps for iOS and Android. If you decide to >> use one of those apps, use meeting code "PLUGNorthApril2022". >> >> On Sat, Apr 09, 2022 at 02:39:39PM -0400, Walt Mankowski via >> plug-announce via plug wrote: >> > PLUG North will be meeting on Tuesday, April 12, beginning at 7pm >> > ETC (2300 UTC). The meeting will be online. Details are at the >> > bottom of the email. >> > >> > We don't have a speaker, so this month's meeting will be a general >> > discussion of all things Linux and Open Source. >> > >> > We'll be using Jitsi Meet, a free and open source videoconferencing >> > platform, for the meeting. The meeting will start at 7 PM. >> > >> > You can access the meeting online at >> > >> > https://meet.jit.si/PLUGNorthApril2022 >> > >> > Jitsi Meet also has apps for iOS and Android. If you decide to >> > use one of those apps, use meeting code "PLUGNorthApril2022". >> >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ >> > plug-announce mailing list >> > plug-announce@lists.phillylinux.org >> > http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce >> >> > ___________________________________________________________________________ >> > Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- >> > http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - >> > http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General >> > Discussion -- >> > http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> plug-announce mailing list >> plug-announce@lists.phillylinux.org >> http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce > >> ___________________________________________________________________________ >> Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- >> http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - >> http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General >> Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > >> ___________________________________________________________________________ >> Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- >> http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - >> http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General >> Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > >___________________________________________________________________________ >Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- >http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - >http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General >Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug