Re: COBOL to RPG conversion.

[Rob Dixon <rob.dixon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob Larkin wrote:


> Why take a wonder programming language (COBOL) and trash it with a conversion?
> <VBG>

IMHO, there is no such thing as a wondrous programming language.  The best one 
is the
one you know best.  But in the end they are all awful.

Programming must surely be the most inefficient process ever devised in any
field of human endeavour - fun for masochists but not capable of delivering
efficient, flexible systems within reasonable time and cost scales.  The
human brain does not require programming nor physical database design every
time it has to learn something new, nor does the computer.

> Seriously, why do you want to convert. You will NOT improve performance. You 
>will
> not improve reliability. You will spend money.
>
> Why convert?

I agree.  But if you need to modify a system and want to work in a language with
which you are familiar, why not try English, using more up to date methods than
programming, such as a Neural Database.  A rebuild will be much quicker than
modifying the existing system, require a rather shorter learning curve, and the
result will run much faster.  You won't have Y2K or even Y9K problems either.

> If you can code in RPG IV, COBOL should really be a snap, although
> more typing.

Surely, Bob, only if you know COBOL as well as RPG, otherwise there is still a
learning curve.  RPG is a snap to many (relatively speaking).

Rob Dixon
Erros plc
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