Re: Is it always possible to write a COBOL program using only 1 sentence per paragraph?


"Oliver Wong" <owong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OnRAe.106833$HI.24039@xxxxxxxxxxx
> <docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:db0m0u$c4l$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> In article <db0l7v$dec$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>> Chuck Stevens <charles.stevens@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Given that Mr Wong is a moderate neophyte and concluded from his research
>> that 'based on the discussions I've found on the web, it looks like NEXT
>> SENTENCE is an unconditional jump to the statement immediately following
>> the period of the sentence containing the NEXT SENTENCE statement' it
>> seems that he managed sidestep this 'common belief'... but perhaps those
>> who post to this group are, by definition, rather uncommon.
>
> Writing language tools (e.g. parsers, compilers, etc.) means I had to
> read whatever language reference and documentations much more carefully
> than I might otherwise have done if I were merely interested in learning
> how to program in said language. For example, I felt I was a relatively
> knowlegeable Java programmer, but it was't until I wrote Java compilation
> tools that I had heard about the strict_fp modifier, or that you could
> declare functions in the form "public int foo()[][][] { /*body of
> function*/ }".
>
Oliver, I have followed this thread with some sadness at the reactions your
perfectly reasonable request has provoked.

There has been denigration of your task by people who really don't
understand what you are doing or why, there has been complete
misunderstanding of what you wrote and attempts to throw spanners in the
works, or divert the the conversation.

There have been paranoid knee jerks from people who loftily believe that
ONLY a human could write 'proper' COBOL...

The world of COBOL programming is, at best, insecure at the moment, so I
guess much of this is to be expected.

Through all of this you have maintained a dignified and polite composure,
which is certainly rare here.

I believe you have grasped much more about COBOL in a very short time than
some posters here have in many years.

The task you are undertaking is a very interesting and worthwhile one.
Re-factoring code from existing systems, whether it be COBOL or any other
language is a valuable exercise. The people requiring you to do this are not
idiots; it makes sense to derive as much value as possible from an exisitng
investment before discarding or upgrading it. Providing a tool to do this is
a challenging (but nonetheless, rewarding) task if you can make it happen. I
believe you are well on the right track to doing so and will look forward to
seeing the finished result.

Understand that some of the views expressed in this group are necessarily
from people who, at the very least may not like what you are doing, and at
the worst, would positively resist it. Either way there is no excuse for
some of the hostility and rudeness you have encountered.

On the other hand, there are also people who are genuinely interested in
your problem and have offered sound unbiased advice.

I hope you have had enough feedback to sort out your initial hesitations,
and I'm completely confident you are able to sort the wheat from the chaff.

If you need specific advice on any specific points don't hesitate to post
privately.

All the best with your enterprise.

> And it is certainly possible that if you use this newsgroup as a sample
> space to perform some surveys on COBOL programmers, your results may
> certainly be skewed.

....or even screwed...

Pete.




.

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