[–] monsterdoggie 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
It's been over 40 years, but I could get up to speed in an afternoon. Unfortunately I'm busy with other things.
[–] G45Colt_II [S] ago
I picked up a beginning COBOL book for next to nothing in a book store clearance rack. Never read it (other than a quick glance through it) and never learned COBOL. Probably could have, but was wrapping my head around C at the time. It's probably just as well.
[–] monsterdoggie 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
C ended up being used a lot more widely.
[–] G45Colt_II [S] ago
I went to school with a guy who ended up being a mainframe guru. Even had (probably still has) one in his basement. Haven't talked to him in ages, but he kept finding places that had old equipment and needed his unique set of skills.
[–] fundie 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Haha, that stuff was ancient even when I started working on it in ‘90 or so. The first time I saw a system/36 I was like “what’s up with the washing machine in the office?” Those 8” floppies were the size of frisbees...I thought I was going to be writing code in C/C++, silly fool.
When I joined the Navy that ended my IT career. we didn’t call it IT back then, we just called ourselves programmers. So I ended up becoming a plumber, go figure. A few years back I was bullshitting with one of my customers telling him how I used to write code in RPGII on the system/36 and he said they still have legacy systems in use and they needed coders because nobody knows how to do that stuff anymore, and the money wasn’t bad...Maybe it’s time to get back into IT, eh?
[–] G45Colt_II [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I don't know about COBOL, I always assume there's compiler nuances one needs to learn.
Wholeheartedly agree on the stalling tactic. They may have a problem, but not offering to pay anyone to fix it is a sure sign they'd rather not have it get fixed.
[–] TurquoiseLover 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Even worse! Is anyone still using assembly language? You betcha! Banks!! https://www.eetimes.com/is-anyone-still-using-assembly-language-you-betcha-part-1/#
All the big banks still use Assembler (and bill gates kicked all the real programmers to the curb).
It just cracks me up he sold all his crap by lying to management and telling them they would be able to get RID of all their high priced programmers what a scream!!! The end result, they ended up doubling and tripling their staff in short time (and microsoft crap is always broken).
[–] G45Colt_II [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Ever had to do machine code? For some reason one of my college classes required we demonstrate the ability to convert our assembly code to machine code and prove it works. To make it interesting, the processors would overheat and start writing random logic, so you had a short window of time to get it programmed and working before it threatened to self destruct. Since it was connected to a motor controller as part of the project, self destruction was pretty literal and imminent, so you kept a hand on the off switch. Fortunately it was during the winter, and we could open all the windows (one of the few labs with windows), get the room down to about 50 degrees, and gain an extra few minutes of coding time. Did I mention that that we wrote the code directly to ram, and any glitch forced a reset and start over? Or that one entry mistake meant a reset and starting over? Or that it was hundreds of lines of code? Or that commands, variables, and constants were all in the same piece of memory, and getting one bit wrong turned a number into a command? The more I think about it, the more I remember, and there is more. I better stop now.
In retrospect, there's comedy gold buried in those memories. It just didn't feel like it at the time.
[–] TurquoiseLover ago (edited ago)
Yes I worked on machine code (assembler) for a few years (not full time though). That's like learning to drive with a stick shift!
[–] TurquoiseLover 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I'm too busy now, better things to do.
[–] G45Colt_II [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
But, volunteering would make you feel so good.
BTW, you don't get a tax deduction for volunteering time to the state. Actually, we all volunteer time to the state now, some more than others....
[–] quantum1234 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
OMG,,,Pres. Trump was right again...he said that their systems were very old and we wouldn't be getting checks for a while...he wanted the federal government to be responsible! the bill left up distribution to the states!
[–] LIghtStrat 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
yup. so people would be begging for another bill with more money because most small businesses won't see that money for quite some time. and the demonrats can make another run at getting their "mail in voting" pushed through.