We in the tech world (through Slashdot) are always herinag about dead technologies. They usually don’t die but at most slowly come out of use. There are SO many COBOL jobs out there amongst other niche computer / tech jobs.Even in a down turned economy there are still plenty of job openings for such persons. I learned COBOL early on but changed with what I thought was were the market was going.As it turned out if I continued COBOL programming and non-PC based learning I would be very well employed now!
I learned COBOL in 1975 and I was recently surprised to find out that even though there have been many versions since then, I can still support and enhance programs today should the need arise. If an organization implements good standards; provides training; and gives more than lip service to succession planning you will find that some technologies can hang around virtually forever. It was a mere thirteen years ago when the last of the COBOL programmers were supposed to ride off into the sunset after making a fortune doing Y2K conversions! Is it a coincidence that the mainframe has been on a tear since then? I think not. When it became apparent how much speed, reliability, and capacity the mainframe provided we have seen MIPS/MSUs fly off the shelf at a record pace.
We in the tech world (through Slashdot) are always herinag about dead technologies. They usually don’t die but at most slowly come out of use. There are SO many COBOL jobs out there amongst other niche computer / tech jobs.Even in a down turned economy there are still plenty of job openings for such persons. I learned COBOL early on but changed with what I thought was were the market was going.As it turned out if I continued COBOL programming and non-PC based learning I would be very well employed now!
I learned COBOL in 1975 and I was recently surprised to find out that even though there have been many versions since then, I can still support and enhance programs today should the need arise. If an organization implements good standards; provides training; and gives more than lip service to succession planning you will find that some technologies can hang around virtually forever. It was a mere thirteen years ago when the last of the COBOL programmers were supposed to ride off into the sunset after making a fortune doing Y2K conversions! Is it a coincidence that the mainframe has been on a tear since then? I think not. When it became apparent how much speed, reliability, and capacity the mainframe provided we have seen MIPS/MSUs fly off the shelf at a record pace.
Jon