Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer

Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by the_af on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @02:09PM (#26728627)

I suppose it's again that time of the year when there's a flood of articles trying to convince people that COBOL is worth learning, that it's been updated or that it pays really well, and that there are lots of hidden opportunities for you to make big money working with COBOL!

Those of us who actually worked with COBOL aren't fooled though. It bears repeating: COBOL is a horrible language and it's often used in legacy banking systems. Learn it at your own peril, especially when there are way more interesting languages and jobs out there.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by marktangotango on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @02:41PM (#26729108)

So much this, I work in a city with literally thousands of former cobol developers who's jobs were offshored over the past two decades. Check online jobs boards, there is very very little demand for this skill, shortage is myth.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by bogomipz on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @04:46PM (#26731003)

>"... I work in a city with literally thousands of former cobol developers who's jobs were offshored over the past two decades."

I was intrigued by this. Can you say what city and why there are so many Cobol developers there?

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by marktangotango on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @05:07PM (#26731308)

Any city with telecom, airline headquarters, and financial services. This one has all three. Could be Chicago, and others.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by bogomipz on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @08:04PM (#26733274)

Interesting I always associate COBOL with banking I didn't know it was as equally entrenched in airlines and telecom as well.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by 908B64B197 on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @02:14PM (#26728711)

Keep in mind that everyone working in COBOL trying to squeeze costs.

It's a dead ecosystem.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by nullserver on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @04:04PM (#26730421)

This.

On a different language, but same mindset.

System is many years outdated and no one understands it.

Get a ticket. “Fix all the problems”

Me “Umm okay. Hire 20 people and give us 3 years.”

Them: you have a week by yourself.

14 months later their standpoint is it’s always one more week left.

I can’t tell if they even see the absurdity anymore.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by 908B64B197 on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @04:36PM (#26730864)

Do they have a critical dependency on it?

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by nullserver on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @05:48PM (#26731809)

If it doesn’t work they go out of business.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by oweiler on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @06:29PM (#26732315)

It also doesn't seem to pay that well. I would expect too earn 2-4 times as much as a Java dev but that doesn't seem to be the case.

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Re:Learning COBOL: A Journey for the Modern Programmer by rudolfwinestock on Wednesday April 07, 2021 @07:53PM (#26733175)

I've noticed that people only speak highly of COBOL, as a technology, when Grace Murray Hopper's name occurs nearby.

That's all that I need to know about COBOL.

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