We have been hearing for years how COBOL/FORTRAN programmers could not learn
the new languages. "OOP is different," has been the rallying cry of the new
technologists. I believe and I think many of you would agree, that a coder
is a coder. People that can write good code in one language can learn to
write good code in another. Thought process may vary slightly and syntax
greatly but coding is coding.

The main thrust of the Gartner piece is that it is not cost effective to
train a Cobol programmer. Let us keep in mind that Gartner is paid by and
caters to executives not cubicle dwellers. I saw the article saying that it
is cheaper to get a JAVA kid out of school than to train long time workers.
This totally discounts the years of experience the older employee may have.

If salary is the only criteria then definitely hire the non-experienced. If
value is the issue then you may need to rethink that position. It's an old
argument couched in a new paradigm.

Just one old Cobol programmer's opinion.

Joseph Rosenblatt