[rescue] Divide and conquer

[Lionel Peterson]

--- vance at neurotica.com wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Jul 2003, Lionel Peterson wrote:
> > I wonder if he is reporting first-hand impressions, or what others
> > say.
> 
> Good question.
> 
> > Folks who program mainframes in "classic" mainframe languages
> (COBOL),
> 
> I do PL/I and JCL and DB2 and others.  I think those would be
> considered "classic".

I was making an example, yes, PL/I and DB2 are calssics too... ;^)

> > using "classic" mainframe I/O (CICS) and use "classic" databases
> (IMS or
> 
> But... but... CICS is *cool*!

YES! ;^)
 
> > VSAM, if you'll consider VSAM a database?) simply work differently
> from
> 
> I don't know if I consider VSAM a database.  The case could be made,
> though.

Fair point...
 
> > Visual Basic, Windows GUI and Access database programs - and for
> > lots of good reasons. The pain in mainframe programming is in
> > comparison to other platforms, IMHO. (VB is a great demo system
> > and good for knocking out pretty GUIs, but comapred to a mainframe
> > environment, well, let's just say its apples and oranges.)
> 
> It's like comparing a Miata to a Tour Bus, I think.

I was thinking that programming a mainframe is like working in a
well-stocked lab, while programing on a PC is like doing the same in an
average basement (quality of tools, area to work, etc.)... Maybe a
better comparison would be power tools (mainframe) vs. hand tools (PC)
- both fine for different projects...

(BTW, I liked COBOL, CICS and IMS, but relational DB are fun too!)


=====
Lionel

"I am not into examining other peoples' dumps..." - Sheldon T. Hall

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