[Info-vax] VSI Python 3.8.2 port, with a OpenVMS Shark Logo...

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 11/21/2020 8:53 PM, John Reagan wrote:
> On Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 8:39:37 PM UTC-5, Bill Gunshannon
> wrote:
>> On 11/21/20 8:13 PM, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
>>> BASIC and COBOL haven't seen consequential updates in a couple
>>> of decades, beyond the platform ports.
>>> 
>> Pretty sure VMS BASIC does everything any other BASIC does and
>> more. :-)
>> 
>> As for COBOL, luckily the COBOL world refused to drink the OOP
>> KoolAid so the current COBOL running on OpenVMS has everything that
>> a COBOL Programmer needs. (Sadly, as the number of available COBOL
>> Programmers decreases due to retirement and death the people likely
>> to be tasked with taking over the current COBOL base and writing
>> anything new will probably lead to COBOL also being infected. But,
>> such is the nature of our industry!!)

> Oh, you haven't been keeping track of the COBOL standards.  It has
> full OOP in it.

2002 and 2014

But it is not my impression that all that new stuff is used much.
If the desire is to change the paradigm, then COBOL get replaced
with another language. If the desire is to just add a few new features
without rocking the boat, then 85 code is fine.

> Ignoring that set of features, the COBOL 2000 standard has several
> interesting features that VMS COBOL never fully picked up other than
> a few reserved words.
Are the demand for upgrading from 85 to 2002/2014?

Arne