The domain knowledge is more the issue than the "difficulty" of the language itself. Old, sprawling systems written with a tool that's archaic compared to more modern stuff... 🤢
the problem with these systems isn't the language, it's the platform. There's nothing else like it. You don't push code to gcp via github actions; you run code on a physical machine (mainframe) that uses an obscure operating system called z/os
There are thousands of files and hundreds of thousands of lines of code, and functionality that they have never heard of (jcl, cics). And the docs won't help them, because there aren't any! IBM gatekeeps information to paying customers
Everyone seems to think all of this data & processing is still mainframe & legacy languages, I don’t think so folks. In the Navy (DoD) we moved the infrastructure to the cloud (hardened), sw development was agile with modern languages. In the past 10 yrs the other agencies have done a lot of that 2
COBOL is still relatively common in finance. So are macros and vb in excel. Bloomberg Terminal which is The Finance Application is written in C++ and is a pain to run on a Mac
Most of my IT sw portfolio was C++. , and the majority of government HW is PC’s. However my experience is with DOD, we had lots of money & obviously our requirements are vastly different from Treasury.
I believe the person that resigned (after 36 years) was one who knew how to run the system.
But I'm pretty sure that's what's being used because they didn't do it remotely.
This is why they needed direct access to the mainframe. That's the only access.
Maybe one of the children is a COBOL prodigy.
Maybe, but my experience in trying to use ai in esoteric areas is that its helpful up to a point, but it will run you in circles of methods that should exist but are hallucinations
I don’t know how long it would take to do something like that
I understand they’ve been trying to update that system for a long time. It’s hard to find cobol programmers
I’ve done quite a bit of cobol programming in my life.
Younger software engineers tend to just lose focus. The big issues with these older languages is they don’t have good text editor support. So breakpoints and logging can be weird. Also compiling can be super weird.
My guess is they will eventually get fed up and say let’s rewrite it with AI!
Because I know Musk likes Rick & Morty I’m concerned he thinks he is Rick and these kids are his Morties. Then he could in a crazy world be trying to do this and for everyone into cryptocurrencies
Even with AI assistance, thorough testing and validation are crucial to ensure the converted code behaves as expected and maintains the original functionality .
I feel like they would need someone there that is familiar with the system and knows Cobol language.
It could be a difficult job. I mean, they have to literally understand that whole program and know where to make the changes& make sure the program works properly. I feel like they would have to have a team from the Department to help them. That’s just my opinion.
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the problem with these systems isn't the language, it's the platform. There's nothing else like it. You don't push code to gcp via github actions; you run code on a physical machine (mainframe) that uses an obscure operating system called z/os
AI can't help you
good luck with this lol
The kids don't stand a chance
But I'm pretty sure that's what's being used because they didn't do it remotely.
This is why they needed direct access to the mainframe. That's the only access.
Maybe one of the children is a COBOL prodigy.
I understand they’ve been trying to update that system for a long time. It’s hard to find cobol programmers
I’ve done quite a bit of cobol programming in my life.
My guess is they will eventually get fed up and say let’s rewrite it with AI!
All the leverage will turn to the old retired guys who got laughed out of the building.
Even with AI assistance, thorough testing and validation are crucial to ensure the converted code behaves as expected and maintains the original functionality .
I feel like they would need someone there that is familiar with the system and knows Cobol language.