How do you mark up a thesis in COBOL? Yes, I know that you're more likely to use LaTeX than Script, but the point remains that the macro language is an adjunct to a fairly easy to read language.
-- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected]] on behalf of Schmitt, Michael [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 10:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Stop the ragging on COBOL please [was: RE: ASM call by value] Yeah, but you can come back to a program years later and understand what it is doing. Unlike this: .if &*i = 0 .th .se *i = 1 .el .se *i = 2 .se *tp = '' .se *pos = &*tp ...@tbloop .se *l = &L'&*&*i .se *l = &*l + 2 + &$IN .se *pos = &*pos + &*l .se *tp = '&*tp &*pos' .se *i = &*i + 1 .if &*i <= &*0 .th .go @tbloop .tp &*tp .br .dm off .dm inwidth on .if &U'&*1 = OFF .th .se *direct = '-' .el .se *direct = '+' .se *str = '&*&*0' .se *width = '&DH'&W'&*str .in &*direct.&*width.DH .dm off .dm setup on .if &E'@SEsetup = 1 .th .me .se @SEsetup = yes .im &* -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of billogden Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 9:26 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Stop the ragging on COBOL please [was: RE: ASM call by value] >I myself dislike COBOL for the very simple and personal reason that it's so >WORDY. ******* I am not a COBOL programmer, except for some very minor attempts a long time ago. However, I very much respect the proper use of the WORDY aspect. It seems to help with maintenance and updating of large, complex commercial programs that were originally written (in good, well-thought out words) long ago. The language itself has been carefully updated and seems to lack the constantly changing, sometimes not-so-well-thought-out aspect of many of the PC languages today. (And, since so much of COBOL programming seems to be in significant financial areas, it seems to avoid the frequent "little problem details" that apparently afflict the "more modern" languages.) Very short story: Long ago, my manager and I were sent to a smaller, rather "northern" country to evaluate (to sell to customers) a potential application program written there. I cannot remember the application, but I do remember seeing a listing that fit on a single page, being an extreme opposite of WORDY. It was APL, of course, and even the authors needed considerable practice to be able to explain how it worked. (We rejected the potential SW product and managed to escape without being murdered.) Bill Ogden ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
