And point you mentioned --- downward compat.... show me others that really--- REALLY -- worry about that ..other than IBM.. In the beginning...and I remember...back in the late 60's... it was a big issue and over the years the ability to run a program you wrote 3 decades ago still runs ... amazing ..concept. today your lucky...with others... to run from one release to another without major problems ..
From: Rick Fochtman <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: 10/08/2009 04:07 PM Subject: Re: COBOL is an obvious cash cow to be milked to death was Re: Does Ent. COBOL 4.1 generate 64-bit binary arithmetic instructions? Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> ------------------------------------<snip>----------------------------------- Obviously given the lack of support for 64 bit, the failure to implement 64 bit addressing so COBOL can run nicely in 64 bit Websphere, the failure to implement USAGE BIT, the failure to implement the IBM pushed decimal floating point, the failure to implement IEEE floating point using the 2002 COBOL STANDARD floating point usages, it is obvious COBOL is seen as a cash cow to be milked until phase-out. ----------------------------------<unsnip>----------------------------------- I can't agree with that conclusion. Having examined compilers and libraries from OS/360 with an eye toward 31-bit addressing, I can tell you that the changes atr non-trivial and could get very expensive very fast. For all we know, the changes you ask for may be already in the works, but updating a compiler and all the associated library subroutines can get very involved very quickly, especially when downward compatability is still an important feature. Rick ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Email Disclaimer This E-mail contains confidential information belonging to the sender, which may be legally privileged information. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity addressed above. If you are not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of the E-mail or attached files is strictly prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
