[Info-vax] Programming languages on VMS

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 01/24/2018 09:19 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 1/24/2018 8:59 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> On 01/24/2018 08:42 AM, Paul Sture wrote:
>>> There is of course lots of existing Fortran 77 code, but Fortran 77
>>> apparently still has a distinct performance advantage over later
>>> versions, so it is used for new programs as well.
>>
>> Just like I said about COBOL.  It isn't that languages like COBOL and
>> Fortran are decreasing, it is that there are dozens of new languages
>> du jour that people with little knowledge of IT think are cool and so
>> they write billions of lines of crap skewing the scale against serious
>> languages.  Or do you think "Candy Crush Saga" and "Forge of Empires"
>> constitute serious IT?
> 
>> I have pointed out in the past a couple of the largest IT Systems in
>> use today that are both in COBOL.  And, let's not forget Mumps (now
>> known as ANSI M) that may be the most used language of them all.
> 
> When discussing Cobol (or should I use COBOL) usage then I think it is
> important to distinguish between:
> A) applications in production
> B) enhancements of existing applications
> C) new applications
> 
> My guess is that:
> * #A is rather large - there are still a lot of Cobol code out
>    there and a large part of that is running important stuff
>    (important=money related) - various CIO's may want to get
>    off Cobol, but the risk and interruption of a conversion
>    projects is not attractive
> * #B exist - it is sort of a consequence of A - if you have
>    an important application it may be necessary to modify it
>    due to new requirements - but the majority of new functionality
>    is typical added to other systems in front of or behind the
>    Cobol application
> * #C may exist, but I think it is extremely rare - for brand new
>    stuff usually other languages are chosen
> 
> So my guess is that:
> * #A is rather stable
> * #B has decreased over the years
> * #C has dropped to almost nothing
> 
> Arne
> 
> PS: Mumps/M is special because its usage is extremely centered
>      around a single domain.
> 
> 

What domain do you think that is?  ANSI-M is used in Medical,
Finance, Banking (the two are different in this category).
And just one of those is one of the largest.

bill