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If they paid well enough, your average working programmer would flip to COBOL for a pay raise. Once you've learned a few languages, you can solve problems in an
by emidln 6y ago
If they paid well enough, your average working programmer would flip to COBOL for a pay raise. Once you've learned a few languages, you can solve problems in any language. It's just about having the manual and maybe an overview of available facilities so you don't have to read all the docs upfront. The syntax doesn't matter for data plumbing applications. COBOL is as good as BASIC as good as Java as good as Python etc. You might prefer writing Python (or Haskell, Clojure, Rust, C++, Go, Scala, Kotlin, whatever is en-vogue these days) because it is more concise, but if you can effectively hack in one language you can do it in COBOL too with a little effort.
- pbourke 6y agoIt’s not the language but the ecosystem that’s a barrier to entry. Do you have a z series in your garage to hack around with?
- galoisgirl 6y agoI have 3 free accounts on Mainframes from various courses to hack around with. I looked at jobs in my area and some don't require any experience, they train you. There's also the kid who just bought a Mainframe: https://www.fastcompany.com/3063265/this-teenage-ibm-employee-got-his-job-by-buying-an-old-mai https://www.fastcompany.com/3063265/this-teenage-ibm-employe...
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Do you have a z series in your garage to hack around with? You just need a Linux PC with the IBM Z Development & Test Environment. (Of course, ZD&T, even the “Personal Edition”, doesn’t exactly have hobbyist-friendly pricing.[0]) You can do cheaper (i.e., free) with Hercules, but only with older OS’s. [0] https://www.ibm.com/products/z-development-test-environment/pricing https://www.ibm.com/products/z-development-test-environment/...
- rhabarba 6y agoCOBOL even exists on Windows these days. Combined with a mainframe editor simulation like SPF, it all comes to fruition in some way.
- anadem 6y ago> COBOL even exists on Windows these days "these days"?? COBOL has been available on Windows since Windows 3.1, and was even a commercial success on DOS in pre-Windows days. Yes, it was principally used in finance on mainframes, but the mini- and micro-computer implementations were fully ANSI standard, and included extensions for CICS and other mainframe stuff. (I worked on DOS COBOL runtime support, then OS/2, then Windows ...)
- mywittyname 6y agoI'd happily take a COBOL job for $250k + benefits and a 3% annual raise. That's hardly a crazy salary either. It's still a substantial discount over what a lot of technology companies pay, and likely inline with what most mid-level managers at banks and insurance companies earn already. But COBOL jobs don't pay anywhere near that kind of coin, and they likely never will in my lifetime. The systems in place are solid enough that they can survive the resolving door of shitty, underpaid contractors who are hired to work on them. Nothing every improves, but it also never gets worse.
- Viliam1234 6y agoSame here. Working with a crappier language in return for retiring earlier is an acceptable trade off for me. Even if after a decade of working in COBOL I became unable to find another IT job, I wouldn't care, because I'd be already happily early retired. Out of curiosity I just made a short search for COBOL jobs in my area. The few I found actually pay less than my current Java job.