IT Careers: Retire? How about never
Posted by Mike on Monday, February 8, 2010 - 153 views
Kuhn, 62, had hoped to retire between the ages of 55 and 60, but he’s still plugging away programming mainframe systems, mostly because he’s not in a … MORE
Why IT Matters More Than Ever
Posted by Mike on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - 399 views
Over time, this management behavior at Company X resulted in a “Rube Goldberg” system requiring the work of hordes of COBOL programmers just to keep running. Overnight order processing required more than 200 manual steps. …
The Humble Programmer
Posted by Mike on Saturday, January 23, 2010 - 199 views
Finally, although the subject is not a pleasant one, I must mention PL/1, a programming language for which the defining documentation is of a frightening size and complexity. Using PL/1 must be like flying a plane with 7000 buttons, …
Extreme Performance: A COBOL Programmer
Posted by Mike on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 186 views
I’m a COBOL programmer. I’m 58 years old and most of my work colleagues are only about 10 years or so younger, and I’ve been around since computers had valves. The main trick to understanding COBOL programmers is not to inadvertently …
Confessions of a Cobol programmer
Posted by Mike on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 145 views
Don’t laugh. Intrepid young programmers are using dusty old Cobol to boost their careers. Some of them even like it.
Yes, Cobol is dying — just not yet. In that gap, some wily coders see opportunity for a career, or at least a secure job.
The resurgence of COBOL
Posted by Mike on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 138 views
If you are an aging programmer, you have likely seen and/or programmed in COBOL at some point in your life.
