From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
From: dave at horsfall.org (Dave Horsfall)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 20:06:19 +1000 (EST)
Subject: [COFF] COBOL.
In-Reply-To: <8884c03d-acd0-14bd-ca60-ec269e3a3812@gmail.com>
References: <CAEoi9W4q_88_funFtmKe48Hk731z018+8bO1wd5k1sv54RgKug@mail.gmail.com>
 <alpine.BSF.2.21.9999.2004140818410.1535@aneurin.horsfall.org>
 <8884c03d-acd0-14bd-ca60-ec269e3a3812@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.2.21.9999.2004141953330.1535@aneurin.horsfall.org>

On Tue, 14 Apr 2020, Harald Arnesen wrote:

>> I have no plans to move to the US :-)  To this day "ADD A TO B GIVING C 
>> COMPUTATIONAL ROUNDED" still leaves me cold.
>
> No one I know (I programmed COBOL at a couple of jobs in the 80s) ever 
> actually wrote that in COBOL. "COMPUTE C = A + B" is valid, and the 
> "COMPUTATIONAL ROUNDED" is handled by USAGE and PICTURE clauses in the 
> DATA DIVISION.

'Twas a joke circulating amongst the Computer Science lecturers at the 
time (70s and all that); in fact, I think I first heard it from John Lions 
himself...

> I still dabble with GNU Cobol now and then.

I am reminded of the following Buddhist koan:

     And the Novice asked the Master:

     Novice: Master, does EMACS have the Buddha nature?

     Master: Well, I don't see why not; it bloody well has everything
     else in it.

I gots lots of those things :-)

-- Dave