THIS WEEK: Java or COBOL

[search390]

Title: TechTarget, Inc.

>>About this email:  >>Receive this email as text   October 29, 2001  In this Issue >> From the editor: Which programming language is in your future? >> Featured Topic: Java or COBOL >> Expert Technical Advice: * Featured Expert: Tom Ross * Jim Keohane in our Developer and Executing E-Business forums * Our New CICS Tip >> Site Highlights: * Whatis.com now available as a book! * Ask the Experts Highlight � Tom Ross * More from Tom Ross!  From the Editor by BJ Rama, Site Editor Over the years, COBOL has been a tried and true programming language for mainframers. However, with the challenge of bringing legacy applications to the Web, many are starting to look at more object-oriented languages like Java. Some feel that it is easier to create applications quickly with Java, and far easier to code user interfaces using a Web Browser-based interface in Java. As far as marketability and careers in programming are concerned, many mainframe application programmers consider learning Java a way to supplement their marketability and to stay on top of cutting-edge technology. During a live discussion in our Developer forum last Wednesday, many of you posted your thoughts on this very topic. In addition to your comments, search390 expert Jim Keohane shared his thoughts on the subject: "There'll be plenty of COBOL work per COBOL programmer but it will be predominantly maintenance work and it will decrease for all COBOL programmers combined. The number of COBOL programmers will shrink faster than the current need for COBOL maintenance and development work. As for Java, it's the way I would want my daughters to learn to program should the programming gene surface in them. It's cleaner. It's purer. It's not concerned with idiosyncrasies arising out of 4 decades of backward compatibility. " Fellow search390 expert and software engineer Tom Ross disagrees with Jim and doesn't think you should scrap COBOL just yet. He feels that the ever-changing COBOL, with many new features and capabilities, is the language of the future for the mainframe. What do you think? Share your thoughts with the rest of us. I'd like to know where you stand on the Java and COBOL debate. Post your thoughts in our Developer forum and while you're at it, check out what your peers are saying as well.  Featured Topic Java or COBOL by BJ Rama, Site Editor Java has been heralded as the programming language of the future. So what does this mean to mainframers? Should you scrap all that COBOL code for Java? Well, each is better suited for different applications. But the reality is someone with skills in both would be a pretty hot commodity. Read more about this topic  Expert Technical Advice Featured Expert: Tom Ross, Software Engineer at IBM Category: Programming--COBOL, PL/I and LE for S/390 Got COBOL and LE questions? Are COBOL migration issues keeping you up at night? Don't worry. Tom Ross is here to help. View all of Tom Ross' answers This Week in the Forums >> If you missed our live discussion last Wednesday afternoon with Jim Keohane in our Developer and Executing E-Business forums, no need to worry. There are a bunch of great new threads for you to sift through and comment on, as well as lots of great advice from Jim. >> We've already received a lot of feedback on our new CICS Tip. Many of you posted comments in our Developer forum concerning CICS and the 3270 bridge. See for yourself what all the talk is about. Tip of the Week: You have CICS logic that is accessible via 3270 terminals only. From remote applications you can use CICS Client EPI or HLLAPI or HACL or a bazillion other screen-scraping approaches. Yes, screen-scraping, the bane of legacy-to-web developers. How about BATCH access to these 3270 CICS programs? Roll your own FEPI? Move to CICS TS 2.2 and flesh out IBM's "LINKable 3270 Bridge?" >> Hide in a batch job and make a sound like a CICS 3270  Site Highlights whatis.com now available as a book! The leading online IT encyclopedia now makes the perfect desktop reference With more than 3,500 IT terms fully explained you�ll never get stumped again - order your copy today. More from Tom Ross! Tom is also a major contributor to our Developer Discussion forum.. ..check his informative discussion threads on COBOL & CICS today! Ask the Experts Highlight � Tom Ross What are the similarities and differences between COBOL II and COBOL 390? This is just one of the many questions sent to Tom Ross, search390's resident COBOL guru. To test your own wit, and to see what Tom had to say, check out his response to the above question in our Ask the Experts section. NEW CICS TIP! Sign up for "CICS Tips and Tricks" today! And check out the first installment of this monthly tip entitled: Hide in a batch job and make a sound like a CICS 3270. Click Here! The Security Top 10 Check out this list of the Top 10 Security issues facing IT professionals - then register your FREE searchSecurity membership and arm yourself with information! Check it Out! FREE Download! Download the first four chapters of Murach's Beginning Java 2 FREE! By the end of these chapters, you'll be able to start coding object-oriented Java programs. Get it Here! A B O U T  T H I S  E - M A I L : This e-mail is brought to you by TechTarget where you can get relevant search results from over 20 industry-specific Web sites. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter simply reply to this message with "REMOVE" in the subject line. Please allow 24 hours for your "REMOVE" request to be processed. Copyright 2001 TechTarget, Inc. All rights reserved.