The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore

Re:The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore by pixl97 on Sunday December 03, 2023 @01:09PM (#38509273)

No really, in fact I'd say the opposite.

The issue with COBOL is any old idiot can't write it. If someone is touching the COBOL they are going in and making minor changes/expansions to an application that is older than the average HN user and those changes and expectations are well defined.

With Java and/or language of the day your cheapest run of the mill contractor given exceptionally poor instructions will crank out X LOC per day where X is the required output for them to keep their job. Maintaining that code will be some other bastards problem.

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Re:The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore by kjs3 on Sunday December 03, 2023 @03:10PM (#38510310)

I have no idea how that's the opposite of what I said. Transpilers haven't worked not because of how much or little the replacements are paid, or how well they do their job, but because there's more to moving from one computational ecosystem to another than just the language.

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Re:The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore by grammie on Sunday December 03, 2023 @05:21PM (#38511330)

Correct, language transpilation is the easy bit, ensuring that execution and behavoir is the same as on the mainframe is tough, but also solved.

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