IT World: COBOL, like Star Trek, needs a new generation

[Recursion]

http://www.itworld.com/career/362379/cobol-star-trek-needs-new-generation

I was discussing the current and future state with Ed Airey, a Product Marketing Director with Micro Focus. Because of the nature of his job, he has his finger on the pulse of everything COBOL.

We discussed COBOL from the perspective of current and future career opportunities for those who now program in it, those who previously programmed in it, and those who have never programmed but would like to get a foothold within the IT profession.

For those currently programming in COBOL, there is every expectation that the large COBOL installations will continue to exist, particularly within government and financial services. These applications are too big and work too well to consider replacement. Certainly everyone should keep an eye on what’s going on with your particular application, but overall, the prognosis is good. Regarding expanding your knowledge and skill set, there are versions of Micro Focus COBOL running on windows, UNIX, and Linux. I’m not suggesting that entirely new applications on these platforms are being written in COBOL, but instead COBOL shops are using it to create off-host interfaces for existing applications. They are trying to move these applications as-written to other platforms. The advantage is that this provides the opportunity to work on and learn these other operating systems as a way to expand your marketability.

For those who have previously programmed in COBOL and have either left the profession or have moved to other technologies and are having trouble finding work, COBOL could be your answer for finding new and long-lasting employment.

I've done some COBOL before. I'm also a fan of Admiral Grace Hopper, who invented it. But it really is awful.