From: bill.gunshannon@gmail.com   
      
   On 7/12/2025 11:13 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
   > On 7/12/2025 11:02 AM, bill wrote:   
   >> On 7/12/2025 10:41 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
   >>> On 7/12/2025 9:35 AM, bill wrote:   
   >>>> On 7/11/2025 8:16 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
   >>>                                  
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  If   
   >>> you have a Cobol system using ISAM files, then do not want to convert   
   >>> it to a Java/C++/Go/C# system using ISAM files.   
   >>   
   >> If you have a COBOL program using ISAM today it should have been   
   >> converted to DBMS years ago.  That does not imply that it should be   
   >> converted to JAVA/C++/Go/C#.   
   >   
   > No.   
   >   
   > But it implies that *if* you are rewriting it then it should also   
   > be converted from ISAM to RDBMS.   
   >   
   > Not 1:1 conversion.   
   >   
   >>>>> from vertical app scaling to horizontal app scaling,   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Not really sure what this means.  :-)   
   >>>   
   >>> You can call it cluster support.   
   >>>   
   >>> If you run out of CPU power, then instead of upgrading from a   
   >>> big expensive box to a very big very expensive box then you just   
   >>> add a cluster node more.   
   >>   
   >> OK.  But I don't see what that has to do with it being written in COBOL.   
   >> Or are you saying that IBM Systems don't scale?   
   >   
   > Applications are not clusterable by magic - they need to be designed   
   > for it.   
   >   
   > So again if you are converting a non clusterable then it may be   
   > a good opportunity to convert it to clusterable instead of 1:1   
   > conversion.   
   >   
   > It is possible to buy pretty powerful systems. But N small systems   
   > with power 1 are cheaper than 1 huge system with power N. That was   
   > the case 40 years ago for VAX. It is the case today.   
   >   
   >>>>>                                 
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  from 5x16 to   
   >>>>> 7x24 operations etc..   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Certainly don't get this.  Every place I ever saw COBOL was 24/7 and   
   >>>> that is going back to at least 1972.   
   >>>   
   >>> I would be surprised if you have never experienced a financial   
   >>> institution operating with a "transaction will be completed   
   >>> next day" model.   
   >>   
   >> I get that now.  That has nothing to do with IT and everything to do   
   >> with people and their being more "legacy" than the IS.  I am finally   
   >> starting to see change. My last automatic payment from DFAS wasn't   
   >> really due until a Monday, but the funds showed up on a Saturday.   
   >> Even things that once ran only nightly as "batch" are now processed   
   >> almost immediately.  But the people still only work 8 hours a day 5   
   >> days a week and it is them that cause the apparent lag in most IT   
   >> processing.  Used to be systems went offline for 6-8 hours for backups.   
   >> Today if they go offline at all it is for seconds to minutes.  But, none   
   >> of this was ever related to the language an IS was written in and   
   >> rewriting it in JAVA/C++/Go/C# is not going to improve anything.   
   >   
   > Again. It impacts the design. If the system is designed to only   
   > do certain things at a certain time, then the logic in the system   
   > must be re-designed to do everything as quickly as possible.   
   >   
   > So again again if you rewrite an application, then you want   
   > to change that logic instead of doing the 1:1 conversion.   
   >   
      
   And this, of course, is where we disagree.  You see rewrites as   
   normal and the best way to go.  I see them as usually a waste of   
   time being called on for the wrong reasons.  Because your peers   
   at a conference laugh at your legacy system is no reason to rewrite   
   it.  (And, yes, I have seen senior management want to make major   
   and often ridiculous changes based on something their peers said   
   over lunch at a conference!!)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)