COBAL.... I need some advice

[sighter]

So at my college we doing C++ atm but 2day i find out that next year we gonna do cobal. My question is, is it worth it to study cobal next year or to move to a different college and do Java or C++ at a more advanced level? B cuz i dnt wanna start learning a new language and then only learn the basics of it for a whole year.

and os cobal still used often today or is it dying programming language?

Thanks
Ross

[Pax]

It really depends on your course and what you want to go into when you graduate. COBOL is still widely used in some problem domains (business intelligence and the like), but if you wanted to more into a more general software development role, it may not serve you very well.

[Browni3141]

Just for the record, I believe the language you're reffering to is COBOL, not cobal. COBOL stands for Common Business Oriented Language. I would consider your question something you just have to think about. Do you want to be really good at one language or decent at a whole bunch of different ones?

COBOL is a very old programming language created around the sixties but if your college is offering it, I'm sure it's still a good one.

[sighter]

Im more keen in going into software development, i knw Java and C++, been doing Java for 3 years and C++ for one. But i don't knw what to do nw, b cuz my college moves at a such a slow pace and i can see if they start with cobol next year we'll only learn the basics.

But thanks for the advice :)

[filipe]

COBOL is a hideous language, don't waste your time with it. If you ever need to work with it, surely you'll be able to pick it up rather quickly.

[sighter]

Sorry ment cobol, my bad

[sighter]

Thanks for the fast replies guys :)

Think im going to stick to C++ and Java. Not really in the mood to learn a whole new program for a year and then the college changes there mind when im in 3rd year again.

[Pax]

COBOL is a hideous language, don't waste your time with it. If you ever need to work with it, surely you'll be able to pick it up rather quickly.

Many have told me the same thing about Fortran, and yet I spend a good deal of time working in Fortran.

[filipe]

I know COBOL is still widely used, but that doesn't make in any prettier or more practical. The whole idea behind having statements such as ADD A TO B GIVING C was very wrong, IMO. IBM assumed anyone would be able to program (not just programmers) "in the future", so they replaced simple math-like notation as found in FORTRAN and Algol with words from the english language. We all know they were mistaken about the future and only managed to create a very ugly, constrained language.