Yes, COBOL has been around for 50 years!
Story is here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09...name_birthday/
:)
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Yes, COBOL has been around for 50 years!
Story is here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09...name_birthday/
:)
Never knew there was an object-oriented version of this language. What confused me is that the government originally setup 3 commitees-- short, intermediate, and long term. That last 2 committees failed. why? What is the advantage over perl, c++, and SQL?Quote:
Originally Posted by nihil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL
Quote:
Critics have argued that COBOL's syntax serves mainly to increase the size of programs, at the expense of developing the thinking process needed for software development. In his letter to an editor in 1975 titled "How do we tell truths that might hurt?", computer scientist and Turing Award recipient Edsger Dijkstra remarked that "The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense."[6]
COBOL 85 was not compatible with earlier versions, resulting in the "cesarean birth of COBOL 85". Joseph T. Brophy, CIO, Travelers Insurance, spearheaded an effort to inform users of COBOL of the heavy reprogramming costs of implementing the new standard. As a result the ANSI COBOL Committee received more than 3,200 letters from the public, mostly negative, requiring the committee to make changes.[7]
Older versions of COBOL lack local variables and so cannot truly support structured programming.
Others[who?] criticize the ad hoc incorporation of features on a language that was meant to be a short term solution to interoperability in 1959. Coupled with the perceived archaic syntax, they argue that it tries to fill a niche for which better tools have already been designed and developed.
2nd language i've learned. 1st was FORTRAN.
Die C! Live long and Prosper Cobol!
Errr. SQL and C++? You just blurted out random applications that have abolutely nothing in common... in concept, purpose, and functionality.
You a funny dude. Do-if-then-else. Those are the foundations of any language.Quote:
Originally Posted by The-Spec