(Or hardly anyone knows)Believe it or not, a 60-year-old programming language, COBOL, still powers major systems like banking and insurance. To be honest, it...
I mean, the fact that more than half-century-old COBOL continues to be maintained does speak to the fact that it is maintainable. That might also be part of what makes COBOL painful to the average developer: You’re not only dealing with a language that first appeared in 1959, designed for machines that were very different than modern computers; you’re also dealing with over a half century of legacy code, including all that means for Hyrum’s law.
Unfortunately maintainable and pleasant to work with are rather distinct concepts.
I’ve fallen down the rabbithole. I’m reading a free course (from 2001ish) on Cobol.
I now question everything. I mean, technically, basically anything is maintainable in that it’s possible…
Just remember the Voyager spacecraft are still out there… and being maintained.
I mean, the fact that more than half-century-old COBOL continues to be maintained does speak to the fact that it is maintainable. That might also be part of what makes COBOL painful to the average developer: You’re not only dealing with a language that first appeared in 1959, designed for machines that were very different than modern computers; you’re also dealing with over a half century of legacy code, including all that means for Hyrum’s law.
Unfortunately maintainable and pleasant to work with are rather distinct concepts.