RW - yet again (was: If you were inventing CoBOL...

"Robert Wagner" <robert@wagner.net.yourmammaharvests> wrote in message
 news:1pcuk09fc58birlncs7nmdg4b73hq7eo01@
4ax.com...
> On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:22:01 GMT, "Howard Brazee" <howard@brazee.net>
> wrote:
<snip>
> PC Cobol hasn't become dominant, but non-mainframe technologies now
> dominate the computer industry .. including Cobol's former stronghold:
> general business in medium to large companies. Fewer than ten percent
> of full-time programmers are working in Cobol.
>

Robber the only *VALID* conclusion from the statement (that I won't even agr
ee
is true)

Fewer than ten percent  of full-time programmers are working in Cobol.

Is

COBOL jobs are not predominant.

***

Making an assumption  about what TECHNOLOGY is dominate in the computer indu
stry
from what JOBS are dominate in the industry is a wild (in my opinion) leap o
f
assumption.

The simple fact is that for many (but I don't have the statistics to tell yo
u
what percentage) of "workstation interface applications" there are MAINFRAME
applications/programs that interface with the data.  In many cases, these ar
e
existing ("legacy") applications that require little or no maintenance - muc
h
less new development.  But if you took away the "mainframe technology", then
 the
chances are:

- you wouldn't see any utility bills (hard-copy or online)
- credit card transactions
- banking transactions
- insurance claims processing

or MANY many other types of "general business as we know it today"

***

In general,
Robert would you PLEASE stop making conclusions from what types of jobs you
see (especially jobs advertised on US-or-English-speaking websites) other th
an
what jobs are advertised there.

I would certainly guess (and this is a PERSONAL guess) that getting a COBOL
mainframe development job - searching via the web, might be difficult and mi
ght
not lead to the HIGHEST paying job available via a web search.  But guessing
what development is being done on mainframes (or via mainframe COBOL) from t
his
limited database is simply an erroneous piece of logic.



--
Bill Klein
wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com

Robert,
In your post - visible at:

http://www.google.com/groups?q=two+...line.net&rnum=5

you state,

"I haven't touched a mainframe in 20 years."

so, when you state in this thread,

> More broadly, that credit cards or insurance claims cannot be
> processed on non-mainframe platforms more efficiently?
>
> I know they can because I've done it both ways.

Do you acknowledge that the "mainframe" side of this experience is over 20 y
ears
old (and hence FAR from current mainframe technology) or were you in error w
hen
you said that you hadn't touched such an environment for 20 years?


--
Bill Klein
wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com
"Robert Wagner" <robert@wagner.net.yourmammaharvests> wrote in message
 news:11puk09ne04r3qkuv66l7uneeis1netepe@
4ax.com...
> On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 21:16:43 GMT, "William M. Klein"
> <wmklein@nospam.netcom.com> wrote:
> 
>
> All things equal and over the long run, demand should reflect usage.
> Do you have any evidence that Web job sites are biased? That turnover
> varies by technology?
>
> More broadly, that credit cards or insurance claims cannot be
> processed on non-mainframe platforms more efficiently?
>
> I know they can because I've done it both ways.

I need to correct my *partial* quote of RW's original statement.  The full
sentence was

"Excepting two years during Y2K, I haven't touched a mainframe in 20 years."

However, I hardly think that Y2K programming (remediation) would qualify one
 for
commenting on *CURRENT* mainframe technology for doing credit card or insura
nce
processing.


--
Bill Klein
wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com
"William M. Klein" <wmklein@nospam.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:bZN3d.1762995$y4.305729@news.easynews.com...
> Robert,
>   In your post - visible at:
>
> http://www.google.com/groups?q=two+...line.net&rnum=5
>
> you state,
>
> "I haven't touched a mainframe in 20 years."
>
> so, when you state in this thread,
> 
>
> Do you acknowledge that the "mainframe" side of this experience is over 20
> years old (and hence FAR from current mainframe technology) or were you in
> error when you said that you hadn't touched such an environment for 20 yea
rs?
>
>
> --
> Bill Klein
> wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com
> "Robert Wagner" <robert@wagner.net.yourmammaharvests> wrote in message
>  news:11puk09ne04r3qkuv66l7uneeis1netepe@
4ax.com... 
>
>