No comments about CICS/Vs Command Level Programming with COBOL Examples.

5 comments about The Power of COBOL: for Systems Developers of the 21st Century.

1. The last time I used Cobol it still Cobol 74, and I have ever since gone on to newer technologies. So why do I need Cobol? As a freelance I find that many of my clients, especially the bigger financial institutions, still rely on Cobol for high-volume transactional processing - many ATM transactions are handled by Cobol programs.
   So, even though Cobol is not my first choice programming language anymore, I come across it quite often.
   At long last I have found a book that has updated my Cobol knowledge comprehensively. My confidence level with regards to Cobol is now so high that I feel like I can walk into a class and teach the subject as I used to 17 years ago - that is how good this book is as a tutorial, and it is just as good as a reference:
   thank you Rui, you are a great teacher.



2. I wrote and taught COBOL many years ago (before I started getting this darn gray stuff in my hair). Even then, programmers and students alike dreamed of a book like this. What an excellent reference and manual!
   
   If you need to know anything about COBOL, then, in my opinion, this book by Mr. De Oliveira should be your source.
   
   I think that it is excellently structured and easy to follow, and still provides the depth that we need to be top-grade COBOL programmers. I've seen many books that purported to be the best over the years, but none as good as this.



3. The Power of COBOL
   My first reaction to the Power of COBOL is wow! Quite an effort. I applaud Rui de Oliveira. The Power of COBOL goes well beyond COBOL and perhaps ought to be called The Power of the COBOL Application Development Environment (ADL). However I recognize that may scare some people away. The book certainly is worthy of that title.
   Specific comments:
   - Online and in the book, invite readers to ask for clarification of something not understood (email or write to the author). It's a great way for authors to get readers to be constructive reviewers.
   - At first, I could not tell who was your audience for the book. Were you writing to non-programmers? Were you writing to non-COBOL-programmers? Were you writing to experienced (COBOL) programmers wanting to learn about OO COBOL or COBOL 2002 syntax, etc.? As I delved deeper into the book I saw that you are writing to all of the above, and more (IT beginners, experienced IT professionals, etc.) This makes it an asset rather than a liability. It should be promoted that way.
   The Power of COBOL is an excellent:
   a) reference book (for both COBOL and more specifically COBOL 2002),
   b) business IT basics,
   c) primer for Object Oriented systems in general and OO COBOL syntax specifically, SQL databases, etc.
   The scope of the book as mentioned earlier goes beyond the COBOL language. If one is presenting an IT course using this book as the curriculum guide, it is quite an extensive (and wonderful) course.
   The Table of Contents at the beginning is extensive, but the Index at the end is not. I believe in a robust (perhaps over-zealous) alphabetical Index. The ToC reflects how the author laid out the book; the Index reflects how readers often access the book.
   The use of tables, charts, rubriks and particularly syntax examples throughout is wonderful.
   The book presents the OO COBOL syntax well, with excellent examples. This will be useful to experienced COBOL (non-2002) programmers and others.
   I compliment Rui Biivar de Oliveira.



4. I'm a programmer who normally works in C++ and Java but a new assignment has me working in the mainframe. As I've used dozens of books in the past to learn new technology I picked up this book hoping it would be a means of clearly learning COBOL. I am far from impressed.
   
   1. The book has typos. Couple this with the fact that English is obviously not the author's first language and you're well on your way to frustration trying to figure out what he's saying.
   
   2. In his example code he frequently envokes COBOL concepts that he is a few chapters away from explaining. I was frequently Googling as I was reading to try and figure out what a piece of code did. One concept I remember in particular, switches/flags (level 88's), was one I had to surf the web to explain.
   
   I'm guessing that the people who gave this book five stars had already been working with COBOL for a number of years and didn't need to learn it from scratch. If you're starting from square one, like myself, try another book, possibly Murach's. I'll also be avoiding books by this author in the future.



5. This is one of the best structured and organized programming books I came across. I used COBOL a long time ago but wanted to see what's new with the language and came across this book at a conference. It appealed to me so much that made it standard for our COBOL development team. The definitions are concise and easy to understand, the examples are short and sweet and most of all relevant, and the text easy to follow.
   
   I am not sure why a previous reviewer thought that the author's English is not up to par - I had no such impression.
   
   The Appendix is also very useful and provides a detailed outline in each chapter.
   
   In any case, I recommend this book to anyone involved with COBOL programming, especially if they are new to the language or need a refresher about its new features.

No comments about Java for COBOL Programmers, Third Edition (Programming Series).

4 comments about Murach's Structured COBOL.

1. Structured COBOL is a brand new addition to the excellent catalog of mainframe computer programming books published by Mike Murach and Associates. If you are programming on the IBM mainframe platform, or intend to be, this is a title you should have on your desk. Although beginning programmers are included in the target audience, the real value of this material will be as a reference for on-the-job programmers.

   At more than 760 pages, it covers everything you would need to research. Information is presented in an innovative format where each page of narrative is paired with a facing page containing a concise statement of COBOL syntax, suggested guidelines for the use of the COBOL feature, and one or more practical examples of the feature in code.

   If you are a beginning programmer, the coverage of structured design, coding, and testing methodology is the best I have ever seen. Used as a text to learn COBOL, the language syntax is designed to be generic enough to work under any COBOL compiler. The chapters of the first section of the book are intended to be read in sequence as the information they provide each builds on the prior chapter. You will be writing COBOL code beginning in chapter 2. The remaining sections cover advanced, special-purpose features and techniques and may be read in the order that best suits the reader.

   Although the COBOL coding is generic enough to be useful on any platform and compiler, the ultimate goal of the book is aimed at the IBM mainframe environment. The last section of the text covers such IBM specific topics as using ISPF and SDSF to edit, compile, and debug a COBOL program. It also includes sections on designing COBOL programs to run under CICS and to access DB2 databases.

   As with all Murach books, the focus of Structured COBOL is getting real work done in the real world. All of the example code in the book can be applied directly to real world situations: dealing with pre-2000 dates in legacy programs, updating sequential files using matching record techniques, and creating and updating indexed datasets with primary only or primary plus alternate record keys. There is even a section describing how to deal with maintenance on programs written prior to the advent of structured design methods.

   If you are looking for a single COBOL book for your library, take a look at Murach's Structured COBOL.




2. Murach's Structured COBOL is a complete course in the use of COBOL in a single 780-page volume. Mike Murach, Anne Prince, and Raul Menendez collaborate to cover all aspects from getting started and special-purpose features to file handling and the use of COBOL for specific platforms. Readers will learn how to code, compile, test, and debug interactive programs; the best techniques for designing and coding structured programs; the specifics necessary for developing programs for IBM mainframes; fourteen full programs and dozens of coding examples to enable the coding of the reader's own programs; and exercises at the end of each chapter to provide a maximum amount of applied practice in a minimum of time on your own personal computer. The informative, "user friendly" text is accompanied by a CD-ROM. Murach's Structured COBOL is very highly recommended for the novice approaching COBOL for the first time, and has much of value for even the seasoned, experienced COBOL user.



3. I have been reading Mike Murach books for decades now, and keep several on my desk. The CICS Desk Reference, for example, written by Doug Lowe, is still THE definitive reference for CICS programming. As one who has been around COBOL programming since the early 70's when Grace Hopper introduced it, I think this is one best books on the subject ever written.



4. I've just browsed this book, which was delivered just 5 minutes ago, but I was very disapointed. Most examples are still in the old fashion COBOL way from the 70's and are not taking advantage of "Mixed Case", "Scope Terminators"(not even mentioned in the index), which makes a COBOL program structured. Use of the "full stop (.)" should be forbidden, where it's not needed, and that's only at the end of a paragraph. Using "MOVE 'Y' TO EOF_SWITCH" instead of "Set EOF to True" even more disqualifies this book as a "structured programming" book, which should be more up-to-date in thinking of how to use Cobol. The examples on OO-Cobol seem to be ok, maybe written by another author?
   This book is of course a good reference for Cobol programmers, but I was expecting a more "modern" aproach to using the Cobol language and have examples "extremly" structured and in every minute take advantage of possibilities available in the language. Younger programmers are used to other structured languages, e.g Visual Basic and Java, and should be informed that the Cobol language is not a "left over from the 60's" but is is real structured programming language. Old programs have to be rewritten or Cobol will not survive. My expectation was that Murach would help us, but this is not really the case!

3 comments about Systems Analysis Design.

1. Price reflects quality. This book is superb for System Analyst and Designers (SAD), both beginner and advanced ones. It is very informative that can be used for both learning and reference purposes. The authors explain everything very clearly using the same case examples (CD Selection case) and exercises for every chapter, so it's very easy to understand and keep track as you move chapter by chapter. I used to screw up in SAD but as I started using this book, I learned much more and much better than before. Thanks to the authors for thier good job and my professor who recommended this book to the class. Highly recommended for anyone interested in SAD.



2. I was introducted to this book as a student of DeVry Institute of Technology. I think the book provides the most concise, yet informative theory of the System Development Life Cycle. Those interested in project management, infrastructure management, etc. would find this book extremely concise and "to-the-point". The book also provides an array of examples, including case projects and questions. I think the only thing missing from this book is an interactive CD or software such as Microsoft Project or Visible Analyst. But we know how Microsoft is about licensing and purchase standards. Anyway, the book is an excellent resource for those interested in information systems management.



3. The third edition, copyright 2006, often seems outdated. The examples and references are usually from the 1980's or 1990's. The authors provided a new edition, but I don't see that much effort went into actually updating the material. They don't even introduce object oriented approaches until the last chapter of the book. It's almost like it's an afterthought. They also don't provide much information on RAD or agile methods.
   
   I feel like I bought a circa 1999 book. Disappointing.

2 comments about Designing and Programming CICS Applications.

1. For many companies, large or small, the mission-critical applications run in the CICS environment. The difficulty of opening up those business logic and data for access through web interface often comes from the fact that the mainframe programmers don't know much about the web technology while the new web guys usually know little about CICS. This book bridges the gap between the two camps, and provides step-by-step instruction on how to apply and integrate the different technologies including Java, MQSeries, etc. This book is a must-read for anyone responsible integrating CICS and web interface. The only drawback is that this book focuses on OS/390, while there are many CICS applications running in other platforms such as OS/2.



2. Together with the COBOL programming language, IBM's CICS (Customer Information Control System) has formed the most common set of tools for building customer transaction applications in the world of large enterprise mainframe computing. CICS is used by 470 of the Fortune 500 companies to process 20 billion transactions a day. Written by John Horswill & Members of the CICS Development Team at IBM Hursley, Designing And Programming CICS Applications introduces new users of IBM's mainframe (OS/390) to CICS features. Experienced users will learn how to integrate existing mainframe systems with newer technologies, including the Web, CORBA, Java, CICS clients, and Visual Basic; as well as how to link MQSeries and CICS. Whether developers have thousands of terminals or a client/server environment with workstations and LANs exploiting modern technology such as graphical interfaces or multimedia, Designing And Programming CICS Applications gives them the power to create, modernize, and extend CICS applications. A CD-ROM is included.

4 comments about COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET: A Guide for the Reformed Mainframe Programmer.

1. I really tried hard to get somthing out of this book. The author just wont sit still long enough to get to the point (show me how this works)... darting from one thought to another without finishing the original thought (except to say 'This is beyond the scope...', then offer some random comments completely off the mark). The book is comprehensive (about 1000 pages and 7-8 pounds), but not clearly written. I am sure the author knows what he is talking about, he just does not know how to include the reader into the process (except to refer to a hundred different places for 'clarification'). Maybe next time (if he bothers), he will write a much shorter book on the subject, keep his flittering comments and comical bursts to himself and concentrate on giving the reader something of value for the time and money invested in trying to learn something from this book. A big disappointment.



2. Comparing / contrasting JES to the CLR, then Object Oriented to JCL...I love that! And it's so perfect and makes so much sense. This book is perfect as an introduction to the world of .NET for the Mainframe programmer.

   I have written in a few books and hundreds of magazine articles, but I have always maintained I'm just a technology guy who writes. Clearly, Chris Richardson is a real writer. And his editor(s) have done a wonderful job. This book is written like a novel. Most technology books are written mostly as reference. This book makes for a very interesting read...especially for those of us with a mainframe background. After reading this book, the COBOL programmer has obtained enough foundation in .NET, related back to the world he/she is comfortable in (mainframes), to take the next step and dive into more generic .NET titles and some real .NET application programming.

   For years my problem has been figuring out how to convert the fantastic amount of talent on the mainframe side of the world to the current technology set so that I can hire them. As everyone knows, this is a brutally tough transition and the learning curve is almost insurmountable. Well, this book is a must for the mainframe programmer who wants to learn application development in .NET and very entertaining for us old guys who love to look back at the way it was.




3. Someone finally built a bridge to help mainframe programmers understand Windows and the Windows programming arena. While this book targets the mainframe COBOL programmer, it is none-the-less and good reference for those of us who have worked in the Windows arena, specifically .NET.

   Chris dove into the .NET Framework with the understanding that after having rad his book you would have a good general understanding of .NET, not an indepth, "let's drown'em with a firehose" manual. Chris provided me with enough information to enable me to learn about the Framework, COBOL and areas where additional information could be found. If I wanted to read further I knew where to look. Chris's style was witty, funny and kept me entertained while I learned.

   The .NET Framework is a huge undertaking in programming. With over 5,000 namespaces Chris covered the essentials to getting going in the Framework, giving the reader enough knowledge to reduce his/her search times and find the information in the Microsoft help files they may need.

   A good read for anyone starting out in the .NET COBOL environment.




4. I bought "COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET" in order to learn VB.NET, but ended up receiving formal training through my employer before completing this 1,000 page book. Nevertheless, I constantly find myself referring to various chapters whenever my old COBOL brain has trouble understanding .NET and object oriented concepts.
   Mr. Richardson's clear writing (despite his well-intentioned attempts at humor) and numerous examples make me very glad that I made the purchase. As long as COBOL and .NET exist, this book is a must-have for programmers like me. Speaking of existence, I bet that COBOL will be with us long after Mr. Gates pulls the plug on .NET.
   If you are or have been a mainframe programmer and whether or not you know anything about .NET, you will be hard pressed to find a book as useful as this or one that is so well written.

1 comments about COBOL for the 21st Century.

1. There is a somewhat defensive tinge to this book. The authors take pains to point out that Cobol is still widely used in business. Though you could hardly discern this if you glanced across a range of new computer books.
   
   This text explains thoroughly Cobol. Plus background on the continued demand for it. It certainly shows its vintage. A procedural-based language because when it was first devised, object oriented concepts were unknown or unappreciated.
   
   The book goes into how a significant portion of the Cobol usage nowadays is to maintain and perhaps extend legacy code. This does have the advantage of less competition from other programmers, if you choose to go into this field.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. I am about in half of the book and I must say it is an excellent book. The compiler is good as well, considering that it comes free with the book. The examples are very good and are based on real world problems. So you not only learn the theory but also gaining a knowledge of solving real world problems. The language the author uses is understandable to anyone who can speak English just a little (BTW, English is my second language and I did not experience any difficulties to understand what author means at all). The only minus I found was that the book almost completelly omitted the debugging, which is essential if you want to be a true programmer (in any language). However, the combination of theory, excersices and free compiler makes this book and excellent buy for any COBOL novice like myself.



2. I am 16 years old. Several of my family members are programmers, most of them use COBOL. With this book, and a little help from my family I am learning COBOL. I like the fact that I can use the computer, compile and execute exercises right from the first lesson. I am on chapter seven and having a lot of fun. I also think I am learning COBOL very well. My tutor says he is pleased with the book and with my progress. We recommend it to anyone who wants to learn COBOL even without experience in a previous programming language.



3. Hi friends,
   I have just read some of its sample pages. Programs are really good with easy to understand approach. However, i think this is for beginners.



4. The subject of the book, Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours, is not popular enough for even the largest of the local bookstores to carry. I found several books on COBOL at Amazon and picked the Sams book because I have experience with other titles from the Sams line.
   
   Amazon got the book to me within a couple of days.
   
   What else is there to say, good book backed by good service.



5. I TRIED to install the programs that are on the CD, and the problems began, that was about 6:00, at 9:30, I finally gave up and did an XP Restore, YES it was that bad.
   During the installation a dialog box asked for the serial number on the CD. There wasn't ANY number, not on the CD, not on the CD-holder, not in the READ-MEs, NO NUMBER.
   So, I did an uninstall, that didn't work.
   When I rebooted, a MS NOTEPAD error occurred and about 4-5-6 programs opened and cascade-failed. The messages were "insufficient memory".
   I couldn't access GOOGLE, to send an e-mail.
   NOW, after an XP Restore, the PC seems to be back to normal.
   I HATE THIS CD-BOOK combination.
   For me, NOTHING worked.
   Now that I can access GOOGLE again, I'm going to e-mail "SAMS" and RANT.
   - - -
   I hope you don't have the same experience as I did.
   - - -
   Do a System Back-up BEFORE trying to install the JUNK on the CD.
   G. H. Montesano, WA

5 comments about Better, Faster, Lighter Java.

1. I loved the premise of this book, because I, too, believe that Java - and programming in general - is getting out of control. Languages, frameworks, and products are adding so many features that it is now literally impossible to have a handle on the language - or even the subset - that you are using. Gone are the days where you can sit and try to figure something out; now programming seems to have boiled down to finding code you can cut and paste (Can you really figure out how to implement, say, an SSL client on your own?), then wrestling with the overwhelming complexity of the APIs, configuration, deployment, framework(s), your IDE, you-name-it.
   Anyway, enough ranting. That's what the book does. And I agree with it. I also agree with all of the good programming principles that the book espouses. The problem I have with it is that it seemed to be a hodgepodge of ideas, practices, and solutions that did not always seem to relate to the title of the book. Don't get me wrong - they're good, but I... well, I guess I was just hoping for more. Like I said at the outset, I think this is a SERIOUS problem that needs to be addressed, and I'm not sure the book did it. ("Not sure" being the operative phrase there. Maybe I just missed the overall picture.)
   Then I started thinking, well, how does one address/attack this problem? Truth is, I don't know. Maybe you can't. Can any one of us, or any one organization or any one book, change the direction of Java programming, which is being chartered by a small group of large companines? Heck, look at the Java Lobby (www.javalobby.org) It's a great website that has been around since Java's beginning, but have they really effected any change? They try, but mostly it boils down to the same cast of characters sharing their ideas (and flames) with one another.
   Bottom Line: I don't know what one can do to change the state of Java programming. These guys try - they certainly did a lot more than I'll ever do - but I'm not sure if this book will do anything except encourage certain good, common-sense programming habits. And some of its advice - like "Life is too short to be stuck with a bad manager. If you don't like your job, find a new one" makes sense on the surface, but have they looked around the real world lately?
   In closing I want to firmly agree with what one reviewer said: The fact that this book has two authors, but is written in a *strong* first person sense, is definitely, definitely weird.



2. They work on five basic principles which, as another reviewer hints, makes it read a little like Covey and that is bad. Covey is a snakeoil salesman who reinvents his time management systems every three years to sell a new book. This book with its daddy Walton house building and kayaking action man morality tales is all quite patronizing.
   
   The home spun tales seem to be Tate's, so I assume Gehtland does the coding. Unfortunately I don't think he read the book since he does not follow the principles that the book espouses: way too much duplication, not very OO (too many if/else; poor exception handling), unthinking dependencies on implementation (e.g Axis, Lucene).
   
   Hibernate and Spring are powerful tools that help in the real world and there are better places to go and find out about them without all the whining.



3. This is a great book. It compares different tools, and shows how to keep things simple and maintainable. Whether it's common sense, like other reviewers wrote, depends on your experiences.
   
   It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the different Java tool acronymns- this is a sane response to all the marketing based feature creep.
   
   If you are a beginning/intermediate programmer, I think this is a worthwhile read.



4. I recommend the first set of chapters in this book for EVERYONE. While it helps to know J2EE/EJB to step through the examples, the author provides a wonderful, thought-provoking and inspiring coverage of software design in general.
   
   The first pieces of the book (actually, up to Chapter 7: Hibernate) discuss the joys and perils of simplistic approaches, over-architecting, under-architecting, evaluating available libraries/APIs, etc.
   
   This is a great coverage of the software engineering process from gathering requirements to coding and from choosing a programming language to dealing with management. A simple, easy read.
   
   The downfall of the book is that it doesn't promise what it advertises: Better, Faster, Lighter Java. The primary focus is on the underlying, architectural choices, not on the Java language itself. However, my downfall was purchasing based on title (as a dual-Amazon suggestion) instead of reading the description.



5. The book starts off well and the author makes several good points about having lighter objects and not being tied to a particular framework, but then it digresses into refactoring evangelism. Despite what this apologist believes, design cannot be neglected altogether as refactoring becomes more and more expensive as a system grows larger and parts get more complex. Just look at all the items still left over from Java 1.0 or 1.1. How many methods has Sun deprecated that are still around? Take many of the concepts to heart up to about page 50, then just chuck the rest.
   
   Design well, but have allowance for refactoring. Build smaller pieces and not monolithic objects.