6 ms·

Assuming I wanted to pick up COBOL and land a contract gig, what else do I need to know? A language is syntax but also libraries, patterns, and ecosystem. For i

Assuming I wanted to pick up COBOL and land a contract gig, what else do I need to know? A language is syntax but also libraries, patterns, and ecosystem. For instance it's hard to do Rails without knowing Git, Bash, Linux, SQL, Javascript, CSS, RSpec, Capistrano, Devise, MVC, etc. Do COBOL apps typically talk to relational databases, or is everything stored in fixed-width flat files? Do COBOL programmers use git? Am I going to need to keep an AS/400 running in my garage?

tolle 11y ago
All COBOL shops have developed what could be called their own frameworks from scratch over the years. Learn COBOL and DB2/SQL. If you end up working on mainframes. JCL as well. If on AS/400. RPG and ACL. Most developers don't really have to know much else then COBOL. Just type in a editor, run commands, done.
sliverstorm 11y ago
As far as I know, the heyday of COBOL was long before relational databases, and any VCS is likely to be RCS or CVS.
- tolle 11y ago
  DB/2 is used quite extensively. But a lot of things are still flat files. On System I you can access DB/2 databases as if it were flat files as well. Not actually useful if you ask me but I suppose useful when the developers didn't know SQL. I'm on my phone so explaining how it works is a hassle. Endevor for version control on Z/OS.
kbenson 11y ago
There are COBOL repositories on Github[1], it would probably be worth looking at what they do. From that list, here's a micro web framework[2] which while it may not be indicative of what you would expect to do in COBOL if hired to work in it, is interesting. 1: https://github.com/trending?l=cobol https://github.com/trending?l=cobol 2: https://github.com/azac/cobol-on-wheelchair https://github.com/azac/cobol-on-wheelchair
wwweston 11y ago
> Assuming I wanted to pick up COBOL and land a contract gig, what else do I need to know? In a saner world, nothing. Someone hiring for COBOL would see a candidate who knows a handful of other programming languages, some database theory, and a little bit of other experience and hire and actually train them.
- actsasbuffoon 11y ago
  Databases often don't enter into it. A lot of mainframe COBOL work is batch-oriented. It basically just streams through a series of flat files. Source: I worked for a bank in my youth, which involved writing COBOL.
  - vampirechicken 11y ago
    I had a class called "Introduction to file processing" that was basically "here's how you manage your data files," and taought us about the evolution from sequential access, to ISAM, to VSAM. Ended up working in RDMBS/SQL but it was a fascinating class - despite the assignments being in FORTRAN.

tolle 11y ago

All COBOL shops have developed what could be called their own frameworks from scratch over the years. Learn COBOL and DB2/SQL. If you end up working on mainframes. JCL as well. If on AS/400. RPG and ACL. Most developers don't really have to know much else then COBOL. Just type in a editor, run commands, done.

sliverstorm 11y ago

As far as I know, the heyday of COBOL was long before relational databases, and any VCS is likely to be RCS or CVS.

tolle 11y ago
DB/2 is used quite extensively. But a lot of things are still flat files. On System I you can access DB/2 databases as if it were flat files as well. Not actually useful if you ask me but I suppose useful when the developers didn't know SQL. I'm on my phone so explaining how it works is a hassle. Endevor for version control on Z/OS.

kbenson 11y ago

There are COBOL repositories on Github[1], it would probably be worth looking at what they do. From that list, here's a micro web framework[2] which while it may not be indicative of what you would expect to do in COBOL if hired to work in it, is interesting. 1: https://github.com/trending?l=cobol https://github.com/trending?l=cobol 2: https://github.com/azac/cobol-on-wheelchair https://github.com/azac/cobol-on-wheelchair

wwweston 11y ago

> Assuming I wanted to pick up COBOL and land a contract gig, what else do I need to know? In a saner world, nothing. Someone hiring for COBOL would see a candidate who knows a handful of other programming languages, some database theory, and a little bit of other experience and hire and actually train them.

actsasbuffoon 11y ago
Databases often don't enter into it. A lot of mainframe COBOL work is batch-oriented. It basically just streams through a series of flat files. Source: I worked for a bank in my youth, which involved writing COBOL.
- vampirechicken 11y ago
  I had a class called "Introduction to file processing" that was basically "here's how you manage your data files," and taought us about the evolution from sequential access, to ISAM, to VSAM. Ended up working in RDMBS/SQL but it was a fascinating class - despite the assignments being in FORTRAN.