Ask HN: 100 Languages will come n go COBOL will still run global economy.debate? - Jimmc414
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gregjor
Old and obsolete mean different things.

If something comes along significantly and obviously better-suited than COBOL
in its domain, with a migration path, we might see COBOL code gradually
replaced. Peter Thiel said “ If we are truly talking about an innovation, then
the product will not be an incremental improvement. For it to be an innovation
it must be 10 times better than what is currently available.“ Steve Jobs said
something similar.

Having worked on big systems in COBOL, I can say it’s good at what it does,
and the tools are better than you might think. The tendency to view anything
old or out of sight as obsolete junk bedevils the tech industry.

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Jimmc414
Not that all the native floating point languages can't switch to fixed point,
but Muller's recurrence is essentially what caused the IRS to switch BACK to
COBOL. Accounting hasn't changed much since the 60's and no other language is
this auditable. It is still the best language for reliably calculating massive
accouting transactions and thats why it is still the engine of the entire ACH
system, the IRS, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department.
Not mention just about all banks, insurance companies and national brokerages.

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Jimmc414
Think about this: COBOL was "outdated" when Java was born. Will COBOL's
replacement require an upgrade every decade or will it behave this well into
obsolescence?

