Rich kids are into COBOL

[Mike Stein]

One language that seems to be completely ignored 
when discussing languages, especially a 
file-handling and reporting language like COBOL, 
is dBase and the various other xBase languages 
like FoxBase, FoxPro, Clipper etc.

Folks are often surprised that it is in fact still 
around, in both 32 and 64 bit Windows versions 
including Windows 8...

m


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
To: <General at classiccmp.org>; 
"Discussion at classiccmp.org:On-Topic and Off-Topic 
Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 1:55 AM
Subject: Re: Rich kids are into COBOL


> On 02/17/2015 09:27 PM, Mouse wrote:
>
>> That is no surprise to me.  If you were to take 
>> code written in C and
>> translate it into COBOL, I'd generally expect 
>> the COBOL code to be
>> longer and harder to maintain, too.
>
> COBOL implements a PICTURE specification, and, 
> with the exception of PL/I, which copied it, was 
> a stroke of genius.  A PICTURE clause specifies 
> not only the display format, but also the type, 
> scaling and usage.
>
> You may think that the CORRESPONDING modifier is 
> a singularly bad idea, but it has its uses.
>
> How many languages before COBOL had a regular 
> syntax for defining data structures?
>
> COBOL is a powerful language with many different 
> statement variations and, like other languages, 
> is absolute hell in the hands of a neophyte.
>
> --Chuck
>
>