CELEBRATING COBOL'S 50TH BIRTHDAY
Celebrating COBOL's 50th birthday
· Date: September 22nd, 2009
· Author: Justin James
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development/?p=1727
Justin James honors COBOL’s 50th birthday with a brief overview of the language’s history and an endorsement of why it’s still a valuable skill.
COBOL celebrated its 50th birthday on September 18, 2009. Many developers see COBOL as a relic, a dying dinosaur, or a stodgy language that has been superseded by more powerful systems. I believe that viewpoint as being uninformed. In honor of COBOL’s 50th birthday, here’s an overview of COBOL’s history and place in the current development landscape.
(This is the language I taught at Cal State Fullerton. When Grace Hopper, my hero, came to Orange County to speak, I couldn't go because I was teaching COBOL that night.)
Click on "Comments" below to read more.
· Date: September 22nd, 2009
· Author: Justin James
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development/?p=1727
Justin James honors COBOL’s 50th birthday with a brief overview of the language’s history and an endorsement of why it’s still a valuable skill.
COBOL celebrated its 50th birthday on September 18, 2009. Many developers see COBOL as a relic, a dying dinosaur, or a stodgy language that has been superseded by more powerful systems. I believe that viewpoint as being uninformed. In honor of COBOL’s 50th birthday, here’s an overview of COBOL’s history and place in the current development landscape.
(This is the language I taught at Cal State Fullerton. When Grace Hopper, my hero, came to Orange County to speak, I couldn't go because I was teaching COBOL that night.)
Click on "Comments" below to read more.
posted by Connie @ Thursday, September 24, 2009
3 Comments:
At 12:47 PM,
Connie said…
COBOL’S ORIGINS
• DATE: SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2009
• AUTHOR: JUSTIN JAMES
COBOL WAS DESIGNED BY THE LATE, GREAT GRACE HOPPER. MS. HOPPER HAD AN EXTRAORDINARY INFLUENCE ON THE COMPUTING INDUSTRY, INCLUDING WRITING THE FIRST COMPILER, THE “A COMPILER.” IN ADDITION, SHE SERVED IN THE U.S. NAVY, EVENTUALLY ATTAINING THE IMPRESSIVE RANK OF REAR ADMIRAL; THERE IS EVEN A U.S. NAVY DESTROYER NAMED AFTER HER IN HONOR OF HER SERVICE.
COBOL WAS DESIGNED BY COMMITTEE, INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE THREE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND SIX MAJOR COMPANIES. THE INITIAL SEED WAS PLANTED IN APRIL 1959. ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1959, THE COMMITTEE PICKED “COBOL” FOR THE NAME, AND BY THE END OF 1960, COBOL COMPILERS HAD BEEN COMPLETED AND WORKING PROGRAMS HAD BEEN MADE. (THANKS TO WIKIPEDIA FOR INFORMATION ABOUT COBOL’S HISTORY.)
COBOL IS AN INTERESTING LANGUAGE. ORIGINALLY, IT DID NOT HAVE MANY OF THE FEATURES THAT WE HAVE COME TO RELY UPON. FOR INSTANCE, YOU WOULD NOT EXPECT TO FIND OBJECT ORIENTED CAPABILITIES IN 1959, BUT THERE WERE NOT EVEN LOCAL VARIABLES THEN. THE STRUCTURE OF A COBOL PROGRAM IS ALSO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT, BEING DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT “DIVISIONS,” EACH OF WHICH SERVING A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. COBOL IS BEST KNOWN FOR BATCH PROCESSING, IN WHICH LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA ARE FED IN AND ACTED UPON ON A REGULAR BASIS. IN RECENT YEARS, COBOL HAS UNDERGONE MANY CHANGES AND ADAPTED TO THE NEEDS OF MODERN PROGRAMMERS, INCLUDING ADDING OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING CAPABILITIES.
COBOL APPLICATIONS RUN THE WORLD
THE AVERAGE PERSON DEALS WITH A COBOL-POWERED SYSTEM 13 TIMES A DAY. ATMS, INVENTORY SYSTEMS, AIRLINE TICKETING, AND HEALTH INSURANCE ALL RUN ON COBOL.
COBOL HAS BEEN PORTED TO NUMEROUS PLATFORMS, AND CURRENTLY RUNS ON EVERYTHING FROM TRADITIONAL MAINFRAMES TO WINDOWS PCS ON THE .NET FRAMEWORK. FORRESTER RESEARCH ANALYST MIKE GILPIN SAYS, “32% OF ENTERPRISES SAY THEY STILL USE COBOL FOR DEVELOPMENT OR MAINTENANCE.” THAT IS REMARKABLE PENETRATION FOR A LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN AROUND SO LONG AND THAT HAS BEEN SUPPOSEDLY “SUPERSEDED.”
IN FACT, I RECOMMEND COBOL AS A JOB SKILL FOR DEVELOPERS LOOKING FOR A LONG-TERM, STABLE CAREER. THE SIMPLE TRUTH IS THE COBOL APPLICATIONS OUT THERE CANNOT BE REPLACED. IT IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK IN REALITY. IN AND OF ITSELF, THIS WOULD NOT NECESSARILY MEAN A STRONG JOB MARKET. BUT FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, FEWER AND FEWER COLLEGES ARE GIVING THEIR STUDENTS EXPOSURE TO COBOL, AND NEW PROGRAMMERS HAVE A NEGATIVE PERCEPTION OF IT AND AVOID IT, MEANING THAT THE POOL OF NEW PROGRAMMERS IS QUITE SMALL. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THE COBOL WORKFORCE IS AGING RAPIDLY, AND THESE DEVELOPERS ARE TRANSITIONING TO MANAGEMENT, RETIRING, AND DYING FASTER THAN THEY CAN BE REPLACED. MEANWHILE, NEW DEVELOPERS ON THESE PROJECTS CAN TAKE YEARS TO BECOME FULLY ACQUAINTED WITH WHAT IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN A MILLION LINE APPLICATION. THIS ALL ADDS UP TO A GREAT ENVIRONMENT FOR SOMEONE LOOKING FOR A STEADY JOB OVER THE YEARS TO COME.
MICRO FOCUS HAS PUT TOGETHER AN AMUSING VIDEO ABOUT COBOL’S START (WELL, IT’S AMUSING IF YOU’RE A GEEK — I’M SURE MY WIFE WOULDN’T ENJOY IT). VISIT THE COBOL @ 50 SITE TO CELEBRATE THIS MILESTONE.
At 12:49 PM,
Connie said…
THE RESURGENCE OF COBOL
• DATE: FEBRUARY 20TH, 2008
• AUTHOR: TRICIA LIEBERT
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=2068
IF YOU ARE AN AGING PROGRAMMER, YOU HAVE LIKELY SEEN AND/OR PROGRAMMED IN COBOL AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE. INDEED, MOST BABY BOOMERS LEARNED COBOL AS A FIRST, SECOND, OR THIRD LANGUAGE AS THEY BEGAN THEIR PROGRAMMING CAREERS. STILL, MOST OF US THINK OF COBOL AS A DEAD LANGUAGE THAT IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REPLACED IN BUSINESS.
OR IS IT? A GLANCE AT A RECENT ARTICLE IN COMPUTERWORLD MAY PROVIDE PART OF THE ANSWER.
COBOL STANDS FOR COMMON BUSINESS-ORIENTED LANGUAGE, HAVING ITS FOUNDATIONS IN GRACE HOPPER’S “FLOW-MATIC” AND COMTRAN INVENTED BY BOB BERNER. ACCORDING TO A 1997 SURVEY BY THE GARTNER GROUP, 80% OF THE WORLD’S BUSINESS RUNS ON COBOL, WITH AN ESTIMATED 200 BILLION LINES OF CODE IN EXISTENCE AND AN ESTIMATED FIVE BILLION LINES OF NEW CODE ANNUALLY.
BECAUSE THERE IS A MASSIVE INSTALLED BASE, THE EXPENSE TO REPLACE THE CODE WOULD BE PROHIBITIVE. SO, MANY COMPANIES ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO INTEGRATE COBOL WITH NEWER APPLICATIONS.
IN ADDITION, THE AVERAGE COBOL DEVELOPER IS GENERALLY NEARING RETIREMENT AGE. IN 2004, GARTNER MADE AN EFFORT TO COUNT COBOL PROGRAMMERS. THEY ESTIMATED THEN THAT THERE WERE ABOUT TWO MILLION OF THEM WORLDWIDE AND THAT THE NUMBER WAS DECLINING AT 5% ANNUALLY.
FROM COMPUTERWORLD:
WE SURVEYED COBOL PROGRAMMERS AND COMPANIES INVOLVED IN THE COBOL FIELD AND DETERMINED THAT THE MARKET THESE DAYS SUPPORTS TWO TYPES OF CAREERS:
• AN EMERGING ROLE IN WHICH THE PROGRAMMER SERVES AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN COBOL CODE AND NEW APPLICATIONS. SUCH JOBS REQUIRE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND COBOL, THE BUSINESS RULES AND PROCESSES ON WHICH OLD COBOL PROGRAMS ARE BASED, AND MORE MODERN LANGUAGES SUCH AS JAVA.
• A MORE TRADITIONAL PROGRAMMING PATH, IN WHICH THE EMPLOYEE MAINTAINS AND FIXES OLD COBOL CODE IN ADDITION TO WRITING NEW CODE, ALSO STILL IN COBOL.
THE COBOL LIAISON ROLE CAN BE AN INTERESTING CAREER PATH, SAYS RAMADOSS. “COBOL DOESN’T STOP AT COBOL,” HE POINTS OUT. “YOU CAN INTEGRATE IT INTO ANY MODERN TECHNOLOGY.”
WITH THE EMERGENCE OF SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURES, COMPANIES ARE ABLE TO MORE EASILY REUSE THEIR COBOL CODE, NOTES NATE MURPHY, PRESIDENT OF NATE MURPHY INTERNATIONAL, AN IT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM.
THE 66-YEAR-OLD MURPHY, WHO HAS DECADES OF MAINFRAME AND COBOL EXPERIENCE, SEES A RESURGENCE IN THE VALUE OF COBOL BECAUSE OF THE EMERGENCE OF SOA AND IBM’S LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT, WHICH PROVIDES A COMMON RUNTIME ENVIRONMENT FOR COMBINING MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, INCLUDING COBOL.
“NOW YOU CAN EXTEND AND ADD SUBROUTINES FOR OTHER WEB-BASED FEATURES THAT YOU NEED,” HE SAYS. “ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU’VE GOT A VALUABLE ASSET IN THESE OLD COBOL PROGRAMS, AND YOU CAN EXTEND THEM AND EXPAND THEIR CAPABILITY WITHOUT WRITING NEW CODE.”
IT WOULD SEEM THAT BEING A COBOL PROGRAMMER ISN’T SUCH A DEAD END AFTER ALL. WITH A SIGNIFICANT INSTALLED BASE AND NO APPARENT SIGNS OF SIGNIFICANT REPLACEMENT, COBOL MAY BE A VIABLE AND VIBRANT CAREER PATH FOR SOME TIME TO COME.
At 12:52 PM,
Connie said…
THE 10 BIGGEST MOMENTS IN IT HISTORY
• DATE: SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2009
• AUTHOR: JACK WALLEN
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=1033
IT’S UNLIKELY THAT EVERYONE WILL EVER AGREE ON THE MOST IMPORTANT DATES IN THE HISTORY OF IT. I KNOW MY IT TIMELINE HAS A PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BIAS. BUT I’VE TRIED TO BE OBJECTIVE IN EXAMINING THE EVENTS THAT HAVE SERVED TO SHAPE THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE OF THE MODERN COMPUTING INDUSTRY. SOME OF THE MILESTONES ON MY LIST ARE DEBATABLE (DEPENDING UPON WHERE YOU ARE LOOKING FROM), BUT SOME OF THEM MOST LIKELY ARE NOT. READ ON AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK.
1: THE DEVELOPMENT OF COBOL (1959)
THERE ARE MANY LANGUAGES OUT THERE, BUT NONE HAS INFLUENCED AS MANY OTHERS AS COBOL HAS. WHAT MAKES COBOL STAND OUT IS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE STILL MACHINES CHUGGING ALONG, RUNNING COBOL APPS. YES, THESE APPS COULD (AND POSSIBLY SHOULD) BE REWRITTEN TO A MODERN STANDARD. BUT FOR MANY IT ADMINISTRATORS, THOSE WHO DON’T HAVE THE TIME OR RESOURCES TO REWRITE LEGACY APPS, THOSE PROGRAMS CAN KEEP ON KEEPING ON.
(Click on the hot link at the beginning of this comment to read the other 9 Biggest Moments.)
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