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Comment by john_moscow | Hacker News Reader

Just a curiosity question: why COBOL? Since it's not mainstream anymore, this makes the process of finding a job way more complicated. As a person who has never programmed in it I'm simply curious what makes it worth all the extra trouble?

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I am open to any language I have a base in, but to explain my COBOL desires... I took two semesters of it in grad school. I just really enjoyed the language. It made a lot of sense to me, was straightforward in its output, and was structured in a manner that I found worked with my thought process. There are jobs in my area for COBOL, but even the entry level ones seem like they want 5 years of experience every z/OS feature.

Out of curiosity what Uni is currently teaching COBOL?

RMU in Pittsburgh has a very close working relationship with IBM. They also offer z/OS and DB2 courses.

If I had a job that required COBOL, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with a genuine interest in it, regardless of experience level. Apply!

A lot of military programs are written in COBOL and actively maintained to this day. The salary of these positions is significantly higher. Its a niche job.

This is also true of banks and other old, large companies with well established infrastructure.

But, I didn't think to look to the military or federal government. Thanks!

Medical field too, I've seen numerous COBOL jobs out here.

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