COBOL Books - DON'T bother to buy
- From: "James J. Gavan" <jgavandeletethis@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 19:34:05 GMT
Dan and others,
As to the original thread asking for COBOL book recommendations, typically for c.l.c., so much has got lost in the shuffle.
Specifically OO COBOL - here are three books you can save your money on by NOT buying :-
Title : An Introduction to Object COBOL Author : E. Reed Doke and Bill C.Hardgrave Comment : Two academics, printed 1998. A lightweight, adds absolutely nothing to what you can glean from Arranga/Coyle or Will Price. My major objection - so much shown as Procedural programs invoking OO classes rather than a total application in OO, flowing backwards and forwards between classes. The only thing going for them, they were using a *real* compiler - Net Express, as opposed to a 'theoretical' compiler.
Title : Standard OO COBOL Author : Ned Chapin Comment : Title says it - printed in 1996 and based on what COBOL was supposed to be which didn't officially happen until 2002. Some examples, lots of diagrams, not sure which compiler if any and some abominable code even if used in Procedural, like (and abbreviated) :-
1. Open file 2. get a record 3. Close file
That of course is a technique that we all use !
Title : OO Development in COBOL Author : Andrew Topper Comment : Perhaps liked this one the least. Very short on examples, lots of tables, graphs, generalizations. Does include a diagram of the Micro Focus part of the Collection hierarchy.
With reference to the last two they were picking up tips on OO COBOL;
where else other than one of the members of the J4 Standards. So somebody in J4 was on happy pills. I can't remember without going through the texts, but references in 1996/1997 to, "We will soon have OO COBOL Collections". The definition of 'soon' - don't ask me. Well we have COBOL 2002 but NO Collection classes which are sat in the TR (Technical Report) as Chuck indicated and they want to get it out now 'real soon', so perhaps 2007/2008. (Chuck is comparatively new to the J4 team - 2 or 3 years (?) - so he wasn't in on the original schmozzle).
But I tell yer - but for Bill Klein we wouldn't even have had a bloody TR on Collections !!!
STOP HERE ........
Thinking on above, I got a bit incensed about the whole issue, and below I started to rant and rave - it would have been a bit of an eye-opener for Chuck. Then I thought, what's the point, so much water has passed under the bridge.
So as the song was in West Side Story, "Cool..., Stay cool man ....".
Jimmy .
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