[Info-vax] COBOL Is Obsolete (was Re: Any stronger versions of the LMF planned ?)

[Lawrence D’Oliveiro]

On Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 12:14:00 AM UTC+12, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> COBOL isn't a programming language. COBOL is a data description language
> that has some programming features on the side. If you look at a well-written 
> typical COBOL program, the procedure division is a very small part of the total 
> length. 

The specific question being considered here is interfacing from COBOL to SQL. COBOL was born back in the era of ISAM files, and never really adapted to the widespread adoption of SQL and relational databases. This in spite of the fact that COBOL was supposed to be a “business-oriented” language, and SQL has become rather essential to just about every kind of “business” need since the 1980s.

And yes, SQL is very much a “programming language”, whether or not you think COBOL is one.