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Ok, let me just say at work I’ve spent the last 4 years working on a product that interfaces with COBOL. In-house we: - Generate native windows interfaces with
by aetherspawn 8y ago
Ok, let me just say at work I’ve spent the last 4 years working on a product that interfaces with COBOL. In-house we:
- Generate native windows interfaces with COBOL, to the point where only a few lines of code create a control like a data grid, button or text entry with rich functionality. You’d never know these snappy native apps, with features like visual data validation and asynchronous menus/context popups, are COBOL.
- Render rich web pages with COBOL using a in-house DSL that automatically become somewhat responsive between devices. The presentation information streams over a web socket so it’s snappy and as responsive as the above desktop application
- Perform complex queries and rich data validation. A few lines of code can automatically be linked to grid view that has HEAPS of built-in functionality like export or data side-view (link applications/side panels to the currently selected row), app row highlighting and styling, auto pagination with range expand, column sorting, reorder, filtering, conditional highlight and more.
So yeah, COBOL isn’t dead. It’s actually the coolest damn thing Ive seen in a while. Because it’s pretty high-level we can build whatever we need on top as a runtime and the same apps can run on the web, native desktop, handheld tablet or on an old VT100 over SSH.
- holocen 8y agoCan you point to any accessible versions of this? I’d love to check out an example, sounds really interesting.
- Pamar 8y agoSeconded
- aetherspawn 8y agoUnfourtunately not, it’s part of a very expensive ERP package. But this article has a few screenshots: https://www.scopesystems.com.au/whats-new-pronto-xi-740-scopetalk/ https://www.scopesystems.com.au/whats-new-pronto-xi-740-scop...
- lytedev 8y agoIs this really all the same COBOL application? I'm truly impressed! Is there some kind of GUI toolkit for COBOL or the COBOL in this case only the logic behind the application and the GUI here is another language/framework? I ask because your parent comment certainly rings true if this is all COBOL!
- amelius 8y agoWhat makes COBOL cool compared to, say, JavaScript, which can do everything COBOL can and more (such as pass functions/closures around, etc.)?
- aetherspawn 8y agoThe programs are very uniform. There is not multiple ways of doing things (at a presentation level). So you get to use hundreds of thousands of existing apps written over the last N decades in your modern web application. You just couldn’t write them all over again, there isn’t a team on earth that could, even with infinite money. You’d be talking, I think, more than high double digits, millions of LOC. JavaScript by comparison .. today it’s React/Angular, but it is very fluid. Not much code will be practically reusable in 5/yr from now.
- gtycomb 8y ago> There is not multiple ways of doing things (at a presentation level). Love the insight. Established businesses like banks look for this kind of stability. And upstarts who build from ground up to challenge status quo, they go on to figure out ways to win with es6 and their friends.
- amelius 8y agoThat makes sense. In this view, how well would a modern, purely functional language do, compared to COBOL?
- pjc50 8y agoThat depends on how well it inter-links with COBOL, surely?
- onion2k 8y agoNot much code will be practically reusable in 5/yr from now. Is that really true? If you look at a lot of JS from 5, 10 or even 20 years ago it still works. The main things that stop it working are security changes, which is arguably a good thing. I don't see why many of today's JS libs will stop working in the future unless there's a good reason why they should.
- apaprocki 8y agoDon't know if you're referring to this -- but hey everyone, if your company uses PeopleSoft, guess what... :)