From: bill.gunshannon@gmail.com   
      
   On 12/1/2025 8:06 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
   > On 12/1/2025 8:37 AM, Dan Cross wrote:   
   >> I've long suspected (but I admit I have no evidence to support   
   >> this) that one of the reasons there is so much COBOL code in the   
   >> world is because, when making non-trivial changes, programmers   
   >> first _copy_ large sections of the program and then modify the   
   >> copy, to avoid introducing bugs into existing functionality.   
   >   
   > Copying and modifying code instead of creating reusable libraries   
   > has been used by bad programmers in all languages.   
   >   
   > But last century then Cobol and Basic were the two easiest   
   > languages to learn and Cobol was one of the languages with   
   > most jobs. So it seems likely that a large number of bad   
   > programmers picked Cobol. Bringing bad habits with them.   
   >   
   > Today I would expect that crowd to pick client side JavaScript   
   > and server side PHP.   
   >   
   > There is also something in the Cobol language.   
   >   
   > Large files with one data division, lots of paragraphs   
   > and lots of perform's is easy to code, but it is also   
   > bad for reusable code.   
   >   
   > It is sort of the same as having large C or Pascal files   
   > with all variables global and all functions/procedures   
   > without arguments.   
   >   
   > It is possible to do it right, but when people have   
   > to chose between the easy way and the right way, then ...   
   >   
      
   I take it you have never worked in a real COBOL shop.   
      
   bill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)