snydeq writes "Sure 'legacy systems archaeologist' ranks as one of the 7 dirtiest jobs in IT, but COBOL skills might see a scant revival in the wake of California's high-profile pay-cut debacle. After all, as Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister points out, new code may in fact be more expensive than old code. According to an IDC survey, code complexity is on the rise. And it's not the applications that are growing more complex, but the technologies themselves. 'Multicore processing, SOA, and Web 2.0 all contribute to rising software development costs,' which include $5 million to $22 million spent on fixing defects per company per year. Do the math, and California's proposed $177 million nine-year modernization project cost will double, McAllister writes. Perhaps numbers like those won't deter modernization efforts, but the estimated 90,000 coders still versed in COBOL may find themselves in high demand teaching new dogs old tricks."
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I hope not!

"The infamous THEY" say it's "one of the most easily read" languages there is... &, yes, it is... but, I feel BASIC is up there with it (editing, FORTRAN too, since iirc, it is basically (pun intended) the 'forebear' of BASIC, but I could be wrong - brain is trivia junkyard, but it's quite "basic like" iirc, from academia), next would be Object Pascal/Pascal, & lastly C/C++ then Assembly.

However, imo @ least? It's TOO big & imo?? Some of the stuff it uses, such as "the ENVIRONMENT/IDENTIFICATION division"?? Imo, unnecessary, for the MOST part (could be covered in documentation instead, for instance)... Not a "huge fan" of doing PIC(x) type statements for output either.

It's a PAIN... by way of comparison to other tools for development.

For example - I took 2 semesters of it, in academia between 2 degrees spaced out over 5++ years between each (COBOL-77 & later, COBOL-81 (not sure of year on later "std.") iirc) & did NOT like it... @ least, as opposed to "newer stuff" like Basic (VB specifically), C/C++ (or C# & VB.NET), or Pascal/Object Pascal (Delphi)...

However - this is ONLY my opinion & it's ONLY based from academia with COBOL, not professionally (but, I can make some statements about it, as opposed to other faster & imo, far more efficient languages, too, by way of contrast, because of "colliding with it, via academics").

APK

P.S.=> Lastly? They're right about "being a code janitor", & coming in + cleaning up mistakes others made before you!

(I.E.-> The original coders, usually, who are gone! Yes, sometimes, they're otherwise employed by other organizations, but... not always!)

Yes - AND, It IS tough(er) maintenancing others' code (you 'burn time' tracing it first, & this is NOT short many times, so you understand it, first)... as people do NOT think alike & even with today's Object.Property Method compilers (most if not ALL, are like this now, & fairly similar imo), so, there is room still now even, for "stylistic" individual coding styles & 'bastardization' of code...

E.G.-> I have looked @ some guys' code, in the past, & went:

"Man, this & that could have been done FAR better..." (there is usually almost always room for SOME improvements though - this takes time & observation though sometimes via profiling etc.)

or

"What a rookie mistake!" (I'm not above a few myself though, admittedly, lol)...

OR

"Was this guy nuts?" HOWEVER, on this one? Well, every ONCE IN AWHILE?? You learn a new trick too, or better way of doing things too (though on first observation you think 'yea, he was nuts' & YOU turn up wrong)... apk