Re: COBOL to Java conversion

In article <1193754625.140107.30840@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
HansJ <hjigel@xxxxxx> writes:
I find that statement interesting as I, too, have experience in COBOL
and DML on a Univac 1100. And then, until about a year ago we used
a VAX and VMS COBOL here in the CS Department. And, recently, I have
been working with the free Unix COBOL's mostly because I really like
COBOL and still hope someone looking for COBOL experience will find me. :-)

I trimmed the rest, but let me at least say it looked like real good
advice to me!!

Bill, my feeling is that demand for COBOL experience is currently
fairly low.

I think it is fairly low but pretty stable. Of course, the pool of
knowledgable COBOL programmers is also low and shrinking at a faster
rate than the need.

So if you're investing into your career, I would not be
focussing on COBOL.

At the stage of my career where I currently find myself, I am not
really "investing" in anything. I am rapidly approaching retirement
and am mostly just looking for something interesting to round things
out. 30 years ago I was a COBOL programmer. Since then I have been
a Systems Engineer, a Network Engineer, A SysAdmin for various (but
mostly Unix) systems and prgrammed in more languages than I can count
without taking my shoes off. Of all of this, I think I enjoyed my
time doing COBOL best of all and I would be very happy to go back to
my roots for these last years. (might even extend those years for the
right position :-) I could be just what someone is in need of as I
am not just beinning my career but ending it. I am sure there are
people out there who see their long term IT goals as moving away from
COBOL, but in the meantime, the existing COBOL will need to be maintained,
possibly for several more years until the conversion can be completed.
And, this maintenance could include moving the COBOL from a dead or
dying platform to something more mainstream like Unix or Linux.


Some of the answers I seem to predict that I'm looking for advise on
how to convert a COBOL application to Java, THAT IS NOT THE CASE at
all. Maybe someone come up with an answer...

I re-iterate my original comment, as repeated by others. Unless Java
is bringing something of value to the move, and given the already known
risks involved in such a move, the question is simply, why?

bill

--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: My Migrations
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    (comp.lang.cobol)
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    ... The operating system, not Cobol, specifies the line terminator. ... I'm just talking about RECORD DELIMITER or LINE DELIMITER and ... your "AIX and other Unix use x'0D'". ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)
  • Re: advantages of ultra 25 over blade100?
    ... If I do need some option on a command, I seldom have to look it up; DCL has an internal consistency that the Unix CLI lacks. ... I gave up COBOL in favor of Fortran about forty years ago! ... I took a couple of courses from the University of Virginia back in 1968, Programming I and II. ... Along the way I learned IBM 360 Assembler, System/7 Assembler, some PL/I, Macro-32, VMS System Administration, C, Unix System Administration, etc, etc. ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)
  • Re: Was that a $3.00 kitchen broom that I saw the corner worker with?
    ... "orders" for a living doesn't even know what Cobol or Unix are? ... Oh dear, Microsoft Cobol. ... write program code some time around 1973. ...
    (rec.autos.sport.f1)
  • Re: Microfocus COBOL on Unix
    ... >cobol on the PC and microfocus cobol on unix? ... Your editor can run on a PC .. ... Source programs will compile and run on both platforms with zero ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)