Here's my favorite part of the "translated" version:
"For sensation the language provided only again with its inserted Milliennium nose."
Couldn't have said it better myself ;)
RAT
Rich Trapp
Technical Solutions Architect
Managed Business Solutions
970.494.4980
http://www.mbshome.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Lalley
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 6:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The 7 lives of Cobol (German Text now translated)
For the German impared, here is the English version or more appropriatly named "Google Translation Language".
-Craig
The seven lives of COBOL
Dead-said live longer. That completely particularly applies to COBOL. The programming language is still most present in many enterprises. Alive it is held so far particularly by innumerable old, indispensable applications. The qualities of the language leave themselves in addition, in modern environments with standard software and service oriented architectures (SOA) to begin. By Hermann Gfaller , 23 November 2005
COBOL was considered already to in the middle of the 80's as outdated, because programming at the Mainframe was out. But already soon PC development systems of the threatened language created a breathing space until the end of the 80's. At that time the languages of the 4 should. (4GL) and 5. Generation (object-oriented programming) 3GL-Sprachen such as COBOL replace. In addition the verdict of the inextricable spaghetti-code gnawed at the Reputation the Business programming language. The standard of 1985 made an end for many careless practices, but many programs originated from and the 60's 50's and were considered as hardly to "RH-Engineeren". Again COBOL was explained as the discharge model and disappeared from the headlines.
For sensation the language provided only again with its inserted Milliennium nose. Miterfinderin Grace hopper had limited the dates for 1959 at year from cost reasons on two places. Now all COBOL programs had to be revised or superseded to the thousands of years change. That was a monstroese task, because approximately 80 per cent of all economical programs finally was in COBOL. But the billion-costs resulted from it shifted COBOL not at all the mortal blow. Rather for the business with the date conversion everywhere COBOL veterans were re-activated and new Adepten were trained. The result: The conversion succeeded and the life span of the age-old programs extended around further years, perhaps decades. According to current estimation the percentage of applications running in COBOL sank only from 80 to 60 per cent.
What lets COBOL in times survive architecture and Eclipse service-oriented by Java, Dotnet, JČE, Model Driven Architecture (MDA)? Some explains itself from the conception: COBOL is one of the first programming systems, which actually earns the designation "language". It is so closely against the English ajar that even beginners from the SOURCE code can suspect, what the program to make is. Disciplined developers can write (even without aufwaendige documentation) thereby to a large extent self-describing and programs which can be serviced thus easy. In addition economical functions (for example record processing) come, which can be realized far more elegantly and more performanter than for instance with C large data bases leaving - without extra data base system - thereby to administer itself. And actually happens also today still.
Here the second reason for the long life of COBOL seizes. Which applied once to the Federal Railroads, today still applies to the COBOL programs: They run, run and run. The data are mergable and sometimes into ERP systems such as R/3, then kolportiert Micro focus managers Joachim Blome are these ERP systems as for instance Peoplesoft or the wide-spread personnel often commodity Paisy even COBOL programs. Transaction systems such as IBMs CICS/IMS or Tuxedo of BEA are likewise supported like Java.
The large time is past
Offerers of COBOL development systems such as Acu COBOL and Micro focus work since the Jahr-2000-Boom feverful on the modernization of the language. In the middle of the 90's one could work thereby object-oriented, in the meantime already functions thereby also to Web services and JČE. Even the open SOURCE Community is interested (a little) in it. There are an open COBOL and interfaces to Eclipse.The most important argument: Straight large enterprises converted the firm know-how, with which they set off opposite the competitors, in COBOL code over decades. World-wide trillions of euro and hundred-from one hundred of man-years were invested into these programs. Applications in another language to write again would come much too expensively. In addition the danger would be large to lose valuable functions. Why thus should the enterprises such risks be received, as long as the software runs?
Nevertheless: The large time from COBOL is past. New developments are concerned thereby only in exceptional cases. If Blome Gartner Group studies quoted, according to which the number of applications written in COBOL sinks just as little as those the user, then it describes stagnation, inventory keeping. That has to do much with the fact that most applications run in "conservative" environments. Meant on the one hand Mainframes and on the other hand user enterprises are such as bank and insurance.
Large computers rank like COBOL among the category again and again of the dead-said survival artists. High end systems remain further a good business for Big Blue, but smaller Mainframe types are increasingly superseded and replaced by efficient Intel or AMD machines. Finanzdienstleister, which defended their COBOL programs for many decades proudly as firm know-how poured in code, bend themselves the rising costses and set increasingly on lower-priced standard software.
MDA gets the COBOL industry in trouble
Completely into the defensive the COBOL industry turns out, if it concerns modern development concepts such as Model Driven Architecture (MDA). The associated automatic generation of code would make central characteristics of COBOL irrelevant like the easy comprehensibility and would prefer machine-oriented systems such as C or C++. Therefore COBOL offerers that also this generative beginning, like once the 4GL-Sprachen, hope fail. "UML and MDA belong into a hehre world, which does not give it. One will have to code always ", so Blome of Micro focus.The COBOL offerers adjust themselves nevertheless to changes. Not only Micro focus helps to portieren users COBOL code of old systems on modern architectures. Unix, Linux, Windows, Intel or RISC architectures belong long to the COBOL platforms - although often in achievement-braking run time environments. Where it is worthwhile itself, programs are modernized in addition. Particularly useful here Web services and
service
are oriented architectures (SOA).
But straight SOA proves as zweischneidiges sword. One can be held thereby the customers with the bar, on the other hand one it concerns a technology here, with which functions in standard environments can be merged. The users will come rapidly on the taste to extract and place to its ERP system or the Webshop as service to the order the interesting functions from their COBOL programs. Here the actual future of COBOL lies - a further of its many lives.
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