Re: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

2020-04-13 Thread Bob Bridges 
You may be right, but in my case at least I don't think it would have made
any difference.  I was an Accounting student who took one class in computer
programming just thinking it sounded boring but I should know something
about the subject, and I was immediately hooked.  The class was in PL/C, but
I started spending all my spare time at the computer center, teaching myself
BASIC, FORTRAN and SPSS, anything that seemed halfway interesting.  I had a
student job at the computer center when the fall semester started, and
although I finished my degree in Accounting I went straight into
professional computer geekery after graduation.

My point is certainly not to object to the idea of being formally taught a
variety of languages.  I could have been saved quite a few quarters of
frustration if someone had been around to explain "does not support this
property or method" to me, when I tried to use VBA without an understanding
of what "object" means in practical terms.  But in the long run I learned
the skills I needed as I went along.  I'm sure others have done the same.

...Then again, Burlington Industries spent some days putting me through
Deltak video courses getting me thoroughly grounded in COBOL and JCL.  There
are some things I would probably never have learned without formal training.
I think I'm often more cock-sure of myself than reality warrants; must avoid
that.

---
Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313

/* This universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to
grow sharper. */

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Seymour J Metz
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 15:38

My take is that Universities should be teaching concepts, not language du
jour. By all means make freshman programming a required course, but a CS or
IT student should get exposure to multiple languages with radically
difference semantic, including functional and procedural.

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Re: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

2020-04-13 Thread Seymour J Metz 
My take is that Universities should be teaching concepts, not language du jour. 
By all means make freshman programming a required course, but a CS or IT 
student should get exposure to multiple languages with radically difference 
semantic, including functional and procedural.


--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3


From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of 
Lionel B Dyck [lbd...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 11:57 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

Interesting articles



https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10./2667432.2667440

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/15467.15471



Motivating students to acquire mainframe skills
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308







Lionel B. Dyck <
Website:  
<https://secure-web.cisco.com/1Hler-EfrMgNoklFrM-c9xVphvx9l6-Pa0SL7Osk_MuO7vuHHhbblfcVIZ5CLUH1vx325esQf-jbWF7rpoOEA7Tdw8hkB6t2s5wTZ0J8MEr764nXSyL735g09gPJvcIssdzb4urbRF_v92eUOBFp8QUnqwgpBV8E394kRBWa7xZ39mtjdh_oHN1ZBp57TAkykaiUT5oBe9WJLHC92STSUB3o8dLHx2UHyJNLwxNIN-WBLHp7h8TnK-3sV5gqqdg6ygkZbf7SrIeAQl9y91AELWvzf11slT8Cl5ETcg-4NLA0FdFb2-4olXVy8MVPhuAx-1_sObIQMRxpcIeTfx7YXHrLqbjG8LtpMlQXc98LFIZAbPbtgiwesQeozI3D5yOCVz5P-fPlIYHZ1AMba7dKqYFsjBiZ03Nh-PMwpYKP7Y_65v4jG0ZeTvICCTR-y8HFp/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lbdsoftware.com>
 
https://secure-web.cisco.com/1Hler-EfrMgNoklFrM-c9xVphvx9l6-Pa0SL7Osk_MuO7vuHHhbblfcVIZ5CLUH1vx325esQf-jbWF7rpoOEA7Tdw8hkB6t2s5wTZ0J8MEr764nXSyL735g09gPJvcIssdzb4urbRF_v92eUOBFp8QUnqwgpBV8E394kRBWa7xZ39mtjdh_oHN1ZBp57TAkykaiUT5oBe9WJLHC92STSUB3o8dLHx2UHyJNLwxNIN-WBLHp7h8TnK-3sV5gqqdg6ygkZbf7SrIeAQl9y91AELWvzf11slT8Cl5ETcg-4NLA0FdFb2-4olXVy8MVPhuAx-1_sObIQMRxpcIeTfx7YXHrLqbjG8LtpMlQXc98LFIZAbPbtgiwesQeozI3D5yOCVz5P-fPlIYHZ1AMba7dKqYFsjBiZ03Nh-PMwpYKP7Y_65v4jG0Z!
 eTvICCTR-y8HFp/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lbdsoftware.com

"Worry more about your character than your reputation.  Character is what
you are, reputation merely what others think you are." - John Wooden




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Re: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

2020-04-13 Thread Seymour J Metz 
Back in the 1960s companies that were still doing accounting by hand or EAM 
would blame billing errors on their imaginary computer. So why not blame COBOL? 
In fact, why not blame COBOL even if the application was written in some other 
language?


--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3


From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of Bob 
Bridges [robhbrid...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 12:37 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

The third link Lionel provided below,
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308, refers repeatedly to the
problems states are having keeping up with the demand (in their
unemployment-compensation systems) by saying their overworked websites are
failing in various ways.  But that doesn't sound like a COBOL problem at
all.

---
Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313

/* The more sophisticated the technology, the more vulnerable it is to
primitive attack. People often overlook the obvious.  -Dr Who, 1978 */

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Lionel B Dyck
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 11:58

Interesting articles

https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10./2667432.2667440

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/15467.15471

Motivating students to acquire mainframe skills
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308

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Re: ACM Articles on Cobol and more

2020-04-13 Thread Bob Bridges 
The third link Lionel provided below,
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308, refers repeatedly to the
problems states are having keeping up with the demand (in their
unemployment-compensation systems) by saying their overworked websites are
failing in various ways.  But that doesn't sound like a COBOL problem at
all.

---
Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313

/* The more sophisticated the technology, the more vulnerable it is to
primitive attack. People often overlook the obvious.  -Dr Who, 1978 */

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Lionel B Dyck
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 11:58

Interesting articles

https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10./2667432.2667440

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/15467.15471

Motivating students to acquire mainframe skills
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308

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ACM Articles on Cobol and more

2020-04-13 Thread Lionel B Dyck 
Interesting articles

 

https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10./2667432.2667440

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/15467.15471

 

Motivating students to acquire mainframe skills
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2487294.2487308

 

 

 

Lionel B. Dyck <
Website:   https://www.lbdsoftware.com

"Worry more about your character than your reputation.  Character is what
you are, reputation merely what others think you are." - John Wooden

 


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