Rich kids are into COBOL

[Chuck Guzis]

On 02/17/2015 09:27 PM, Mouse wrote:

> That is no surprise to me.  If you were to take code written in C and
> translate it into COBOL, I'd generally expect the COBOL code to be
> longer and harder to maintain, too.

COBOL implements a PICTURE specification, and, with the exception of 
PL/I, which copied it, was a stroke of genius.  A PICTURE clause 
specifies not only the display format, but also the type, scaling and usage.

You may think that the CORRESPONDING modifier is a singularly bad idea, 
but it has its uses.

How many languages before COBOL had a regular syntax for defining data 
structures?

COBOL is a powerful language with many different statement variations 
and, like other languages, is absolute hell in the hands of a neophyte.

--Chuck