As you can see from this little example, COBOL is not like your normal programming language. You can’t write a compiler or a kernel module in COBOL, and the syntax is not what we’ve grown to expect. But then consider another common domain-specific language: SQL. The syntax is kind of weird, and the semantics depend on relational algebra.
“Programming on the mainframe gives you a glimpse on how software used to be built,” said Ceballlos. “It’s like a time capsule for any modern programmer. Most of it is still very manual compared to modern DEVOPS and automation techniques.”
COBOL is, in a lot of ways, an antiquated, bad programming language. But for its particular domain, it’s better than anything else.
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