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                            A Call For COBAL Programmers   
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       A Call For COBAL Programmers   
       by Janis Kracht   
      
       Link to this article:   
       https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/business/coronavirus-cobol-   
       programmers-new-jersey-trnd/index.html [link wraps]   
      
       "Wanted urgently: People who know a half century-old computer   
       language so states can process unemployment claims"   
      
       Do you know cobol?  How you can help:   
      
       Go to the link at the top of this article to read more, please   
       Here is part of the article at the above link:   
      
       (CNN)On top of ventilators, face masks and health care workers,   
       you can now add COBOL programmers to the list of what several   
       states urgently need as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.   
       In New Jersey, Gov.  Phil Murphy has put out a call for   
       volunteers who know how to code the decades-old computer   
       programming language called COBOL because many of the state's   
       systems still run on older mainframes.  In Kansas, Gov.  Laura   
       Kelly said the state's Departments of Labor was in the process   
       of modernizing from COBOL but then the virus interfered.  "So   
       they're operating on really old stuff," she said.  Connecticut   
       has also admitted that it's struggling to process the large   
       volume of unemployment claims with its "40-year-old system   
       comprised of a COBOL mainframe and four other separate systems."   
       The state is working to develop a new benefits system with   
       Maine, Rhode Island, Mississippi and Oklahoma.  But the system   
       won't be finished before next year.  "Literally, we have systems   
       that are 40-plus-years-old," New Jersey Gov.  Murphy said over   
       the weekend.  "There'll be lots of postmortems and one of them   
       on our list will be how did we get here where we literally   
       needed COBOL programmers?"   
      
       Coders have moved away from the aging language COBOL, which   
       stands for Common Business Oriented Language, is a computer   
       programming language that was developed back in 1959, according   
       to the National Museum of American History.  "It's a programming   
       language that was used to create a very significant percentage   
       of business systems over the period of the 60s, 70s and even   
       into the 80s," Joseph Steinberg, an expert on cybersecurity,   
       told CNN.  But over time, coders have moved away from the aging   
       language.  "The general population of COBOL programmers is   
       generally much older than the average age of a coder," Steinberg   
       said.  "Many American universities have not taught COBOL in   
       their computer science programs since the 1980s." Yet, the   
       program persists in systems Despite a dwindling number of COBOL   
       programmers, a 2017 report by Reuters found that there are still   
       220 billion lines of COBOL in use today.  43% of banking systems   
       are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM swipes rely on COBOL   
       code.  Even in the federal government, COBOL is being used in   
       agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department   
       of Justice and Social Security Administration, according to a   
       2016 report by the Government Accountability Office.  A 2018   
       report by the inspector general for the Social Security   
       Administration found that the administration maintained more   
       than "60 million lines of COBOL" with "millions more lines of   
       other legacy programming languages." The inspector general urged   
       the administration to modernize its systems.   
      
       With more than 44,000 Covid-19 cases in New Jersey, the last   
       thing the governor should have to worry about are computer   
       systems, Steinberg, the cybersecurity expert, said.  "Governors   
       should not have to think about computer systems during a   
       pandemic," he said, "and we should have systems that if there   
       are emergency situations, should not make the emergencies   
       worse."   
       [...]   
      
       JK   
      
      
       FIDOGAZETTE  Vol 14 No 14    Page  3         April 08, 2020   
      
      
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