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Subject:Re: TECHWR-L Digest - 21 Aug 1995 to 22 Aug 1995 From:Karen Davis PSP team 03 505 <karene -at- ASIMOV -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 23 Aug 1995 10:12:31 CDT
>In TECHWR-L Karen Davis PSP team 03 505 <karene -at- ASIMOV -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM> writes:
>> COBOL is only used in a very
>>few, very antique banks and insurance companies.
>I beg to differ. It has been estimated that there are over 65 billion
>lines of COBOL code in use today.
That's because it takes 100 lines of COBOL code to perform the
same functions as 10 lines of C!! (I know, I've programmed in
both! I was writing COBOL programs on punchcards!)
> I admit that it is not yet in wide
>use on workstations or PCs, but I think that will change over time
>as the mainframe community moves forward.
I'm not going to even debate about the use of mainframes vs. workstations
and PCs, but an informal poll would probably indicate that the
majority of companies represented in this group do not use mainframes.
The trend is away from the single computer as more workstations and
PCs are networked. Besides, my Sun workstation outstrips many of the
mainframes that are still in place!
Time will tell, but if you check the classifieds, you'll find they
aren't looking for COBOL programmers often, and when they do, they
don't pay them nearly as much. Even the banks are now switching
to OOP languages, and they are usually the last to change anything.
Besides, this debate is over the languages most in demand, and that
is most easily determined by what the market is looking for. Check
your paper.