COBOL programming through the years! Open Mainframe Project Q2 webinar

In Part 6 of this series, COBOL Programming Course Technical Steering Committee (TSC) members chat with Lezlie Browder, who is the Summer mentor for the Open Mainframe Project COBOL Programming course.

Lezlie is a technologist with years of software experience, including COBOL, Fortran, and MQ Series. Hear her fascinating story about working in a bunker during Y2K, Ground Zero, and many programming insights.

Lezlie shared with the TSC members that she came from a time when corporate culture was about “learning with your job on the line” and being in technological silo’ed environments. She appreciates that TSC is making COBOL easier and more efficient by sharing ideas and not re-inventing the wheel. She was impressed with COBOL Check that made life easier for programmers by saving compilation time. She remembers an instance when it took her a long time to debug her program and sysprogs complained about her using too much of CPU.

The team discusses the Java language versus COBOL debate, integrating COBOL applications within organizations, sharing code through platforms like GitHub, and the importance of understanding data and testing.

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Related resources

• More COBOL resources for developers
• Getting Started in Enterprise IT
• IBM Z Xplore