[Info-vax] Better languages than BASIC

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

On Thu, 11 Jan 2024 20:25:34 -0500, bill wrote:

> On 1/11/2024 1:30 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>
>> If you want to write business applications, then either Java or a
>> subset of C++. C++ subset to be chosen based on programmer skillsets
>> and the problem to be solved.
> 
> Or COBOL which was actually designed for the task.

Supposedly. But a couple of decades after the COBOL spec was first 
published, these things called “relational databases” appeared on the 
scene, and they soon became essential for “business applications”. And the 
best way to access them turned out to require generating SQL query 
strings. But good string handling had not been considered a necessity for 
“business applications” in COBOL. So it had to resort to nonstandard 
kludges tacked to the side to cope with SQL queries.