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From: Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: The joy of FORTRAN
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:52:08 -0700
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Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
> On 2024-09-25, 186282@ud0s4.net <186283@ud0s4.net> wrote:
> 
>> COBOL ... well ... would rather NOT use it.
>> The whole "self documenting" idea turned out
>> to be crap - COBOL is *hard* to understand
>> sometimes.
> 
> Yes, the dream of a language that a manager could read
> was rather naive.  As Robert L. Glass (under the pseudonym
> Miles Benson) once wrote in his column in Computerworld:
> "His programs were so readable that he once had one
> published in the _Saturday Evening Post_."
> 
> But it left a lot of room for humour, e.g. "The Common
> Business-Oriented Goldilocks", which tells the story
> in COBOL.
> 
> I joined a PPOE at the same time as a new department head
> who was quite a character.  Our inside sales manager,
> Al Tannock, popped in and said to him: "Say something
> in COBOL."  Instantly our guy shot back:
> 
>     EXAMINE ROOM REPLACING ALL TANNOCKS WITH SPACES.
> 

I’d love to get Glass’ books, but they seem to be unobtanium.

-- 
Pete