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COBOL on Wheelchair: Micro web-framework for COBOL

108 points by matsz 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
nathell 3y ago
Written by Adrian Zandberg [1], a co-leader of a Polish political party (Razem) that’s set to enter the government following the recent election. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zandberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zandberg
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- jongjong 3y ago
  Really? How odd. I'm thinking these COBOL devs know something about some important stuff...
alexjplant 3y ago
So it's COBOL on Cogs [1] but for real? [1] http://www.coboloncogs.org/INDEX.HTM http://www.coboloncogs.org/INDEX.HTM
- grzm 3y ago
  From the README: > OK, COBOL-ON-COGS was funny, but why not try that for real? ;)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- a2800276 3y ago
  Hehe. I put together Cobol on Cogs ... decades ago. Funny to see it pop up again every couple of years :) I'm amazed everything still seems to work (apart from the F-Key based navigation, may need to put some work in.)
SonOfLilit 3y ago
Having written some COBOL while consulting for a bank: The language is not interesting at all without the ecosystem, which is this fully flushed alien alternative universe of computation. If you want to dive into COBOL, don't try to run it on x86, get yourself a mainframe account.
- shawa_a_a 3y ago
  I've been intrigued enough to pull down Gnu COBOL and attempt to write some simple programs, and found it to be quite an alien universe in and of itself. Can you give any examples of the fully-fledged mainframe world differing from running it on x86/arm?
  - tyingq 3y ago
    All the surrounding ecosystem for batch scheduling (JCL, Tivoli), databases (IDMS, IMS, Adabas, DB2, etc), something like what we would call an app server (CICS), role based access control (RACF), and others I've missed.
    - nsxwolf 3y ago
      And there's file system stuff: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-difference-between-a-variable-blocked-format-and-a-fixed-blocked-for https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-dif...
      - tyingq 3y ago
        Ah, yep. The original nosql. Variable and fixed length record based storage, that comes with the OS.
        p_l 3y ago
        The parts that are standardised in COBOL (k/v storage) are implemented in GNU COBOL using gdbm/Berkeley DB.
looneysquash 3y ago
COBOL on Crutches would be a better (worse) name.
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  Better, it would be a little less humiliating to people who need wheelchair assistance in real life, since crutches are usually a temporary aid. And alliteration.
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
(2013)? Some discussion from then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6950646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6950646
digitalsankhara 3y ago
I'd have called it COBWEB :-) I think there was also COBOLSCRIPT (sp) a few years ago, which, IIRC was a COBOL -> JS converter.
lefessan 3y ago
Who said COBOL was not trendy ? A new version of the COBOL ISO standard was released this year (January 2023) A brand new stable release 3.2 of the free open-source compiler GnuCOBOL was released this summer (July 2023) OCamlPro is working on SuperBOL, a COBOL LSP (Language Server Protocol) for Vscode, written in OCaml...
xiaodai 3y ago
Reminds me of that jade teen video with a grandpa.
Alifatisk 3y ago
What a funny title, is it inspired of Ruby on Rails? Like how Rust on Nails does.
ngcc_hk 3y ago
Why not actually run a mainframe and do a bit cobol programming. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37976082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37976082

108 points by matsz 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Written by Adrian Zandberg [1], a co-leader of a Polish political party (Razem) that’s set to enter the government following the recent election. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zandberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zandberg

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
jongjong 3y ago
Really? How odd. I'm thinking these COBOL devs know something about some important stuff...

alexjplant 3y ago

So it's COBOL on Cogs [1] but for real? [1] http://www.coboloncogs.org/INDEX.HTM http://www.coboloncogs.org/INDEX.HTM

grzm 3y ago
From the README: > OK, COBOL-ON-COGS was funny, but why not try that for real? ;)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
a2800276 3y ago
Hehe. I put together Cobol on Cogs ... decades ago. Funny to see it pop up again every couple of years :) I'm amazed everything still seems to work (apart from the F-Key based navigation, may need to put some work in.)

SonOfLilit 3y ago

Having written some COBOL while consulting for a bank: The language is not interesting at all without the ecosystem, which is this fully flushed alien alternative universe of computation. If you want to dive into COBOL, don't try to run it on x86, get yourself a mainframe account.

shawa_a_a 3y ago
I've been intrigued enough to pull down Gnu COBOL and attempt to write some simple programs, and found it to be quite an alien universe in and of itself. Can you give any examples of the fully-fledged mainframe world differing from running it on x86/arm?
- tyingq 3y ago
  All the surrounding ecosystem for batch scheduling (JCL, Tivoli), databases (IDMS, IMS, Adabas, DB2, etc), something like what we would call an app server (CICS), role based access control (RACF), and others I've missed.
  - nsxwolf 3y ago
    And there's file system stuff: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-difference-between-a-variable-blocked-format-and-a-fixed-blocked-for https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-dif...
    - tyingq 3y ago
      Ah, yep. The original nosql. Variable and fixed length record based storage, that comes with the OS.
      - p_l 3y ago
        The parts that are standardised in COBOL (k/v storage) are implemented in GNU COBOL using gdbm/Berkeley DB.

looneysquash 3y ago

COBOL on Crutches would be a better (worse) name.

quickthrower2 3y ago
Better, it would be a little less humiliating to people who need wheelchair assistance in real life, since crutches are usually a temporary aid. And alliteration.

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

(2013)? Some discussion from then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6950646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6950646

digitalsankhara 3y ago

I'd have called it COBWEB :-) I think there was also COBOLSCRIPT (sp) a few years ago, which, IIRC was a COBOL -> JS converter.

lefessan 3y ago

Who said COBOL was not trendy ? A new version of the COBOL ISO standard was released this year (January 2023) A brand new stable release 3.2 of the free open-source compiler GnuCOBOL was released this summer (July 2023) OCamlPro is working on SuperBOL, a COBOL LSP (Language Server Protocol) for Vscode, written in OCaml...

xiaodai 3y ago

Reminds me of that jade teen video with a grandpa.

Alifatisk 3y ago

What a funny title, is it inspired of Ruby on Rails? Like how Rust on Nails does.

ngcc_hk 3y ago

Why not actually run a mainframe and do a bit cobol programming. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37976082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37976082