Apart from legacy reasons, why would anyone choose Cobol?
Heard it being derided so many times without ever actually looking at it. Now it is looking at me I am starting to feel uneasy. Cobol.
Don't fear COBOL and don't fear "legacy"; that's just a derogatory term someone came up to mean "well-designed, stable programs we've built that have been rock solid and handled tons of work for decades." Because, you know, who'd want that right? Because you're always supposed to be throwing things out and starting over all the time with the latest hippest buzzwords, rather than focusing on decades of stability right?
From https://www.guru99.com/learn-cobol-programming-tutorial.html
* You can use COBOL as a self-documenting language.
* COBOL language can handle massive data processing.
* It is one of the primarily used high-level programming languages.
* Fully compatible with its past versions.
* Resolution of bugs is easier as it has an effective error message system.
And more things.
"Fully compatible with its past versions" -- Imagine that! A language that people aren't looking to break! Because, you know, that's expected to happen with language designers right?
I was indeed under the impression that a language which seemed to have endured were robustness usually matters could not be as obsolete as some would want it to be. This is in fact what I meant by "legacy reasons". I now realize that there are indeed much more reasons.
Thanks for the link, and also for pointing to the guru99 website in general.
The author of "The Tao of Programming" wrote that "Don't code in COBOL".
This is the last book I borrowed from my university's library. A 3-in-1 bundle of "The Tao of Programming", "The Zen of Programming" and "Computer Parables".
> "Don't code in COBOL".
Did they care to elaborate?
Also, do you agree with them, and if so, why?