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

2 comments about COBOL Programmers Swing with Java.

1. Why does every Java book start with Hello World? This one doesn't. They use a bank system to illustrate the java commands. And it does it in less than 300 pages. Which means it actually is possible to read it from beginning to end. Plus it is easy to follow. It may not have all the things you can do in java but I found it to be of great help as I learn java. For cobol programmers I feel this is one to have in your library.



2. At 282 pages, this books covers a lot of ground about Java and Object Oriented Programming. There are 11 Chapters covering everything from Object Oriented Programming fundamentals to somewhat advanced subject matter like Object Oriented Development Issues. A Community National Bank Application is used to demonstrate OO Concepts such as Encapsulation, Inheritance,Polymorphism, Java classes structure, variables declaration, Java operators, decision making constructs such as: the while loop and for loop. There are also Chapters that cover topics like Arrays, file I/O, Database access and Java GUI. There are a lot of code samples followed by explanation of what the code is doing. Be carefully though, I found several errors in this book. For example, Chapter 4, StringDemo.java example, the code on line 9 System.out.println(s2.substring(10, 13) + "FUN!"); will print Jav is FUN!. To print Java is FUN!, change the substring method parameters to 10,14, i.e., System.out.println(s2.substring(10, 14) + "FUN!");
   There are also some GUI code samples that use show() method, which has been deprecated. To be fair, the number of code sample errors in this book is low and I'm not really complaining about them. I think sometimes a code sample error is a good thing because it makes you research the problem. The code samples are also available at the publisher's web site on Internet. This book also attempts to take COBOL syntax and identify compatible/similar Java syntax or concepts. I think that will be appreciated by most COBOL Programmers. This book seems to be geared towards Java 4 SE Edition, i.e., Java v1.4. Notice that the Web Based Application development is not covered by this book. The authors also assume that the reader knows about some Java IDE, such as Eclipse, or NetBeans. Bottom line, this is easy to read and to follow book that covers a lot of topics in OOP and Java. It will not make you the greatest Java Developer ever, however, it will teach you something about OO programming and how to code simple Java Apps. I would recommend this book to any COBOL Programmer who wants to learn some Java.

1 comments about Cobol: From Micro to Mainframe/Book&Disk.

1. Excellent resource for the novice or intermediate Cobol programmer. Very clear explanations and abundant examples aid understanding. The authors favor a "hands on" approach which encourages the reader to try out the concepts in each chapter. The authors are careful about pointing out differences between Cobol-85 and Cobol-74 as they arise. While this may seem to be a minor point so soon before the release of Cobol-9x, it is helpful to those who work with older systems that are not fully Cobol-85 compliant. The included disks contain the input files for the programming exercises (a time-saver for students) and a Cobol compiler and editor for DOS. The compiler is not a serious competitor to any commercial compiler, but it is sufficient for a student or someone just starting out in Cobol. This book/disk set is the best resource I've seen for Cobol at this level. I strongly recommend it

1 comments about CICS for the COBOL Programmer, Part 2: An Advanced Course.

1. I love this book; it uses a very simple language to describe very complex programming instructions. I am using it all the time at work and would highly recomend his book for the programmers (beginners and experienced) who work with CICS

5 comments about Structured Cobol Programming: Update Version for 2001-2002.

1. I use this book at my University or rather, it is the book used for the course, but we never once use it. Why might you ask? Because unlike all reviews before that said this book was great, this book is written so technically and to understand it, you have to already know something about Cobol. If you need help with a program and want to look it up in the book hoping it will help you, forget it. There is no way this book is of any help and it is so hard to understand. You are better off buying some other book instead of this one. Trust me.



2. As the reader below me already said, this book is simply too technical. It assumes you know something about this language. Clearly not for beginners. As you can notice, most of the people who gave this book a positive rating are either professors or experienced programmers. None of them was a beginner when they bought the book.
   
   Anyway, I had to pick this book up for one of my college classes. The first source code example is 21 lines long (no comments). I repeat: 21 LINES. A first-program length not normally found on introductory books. And I have read a lot of introductory programming books (C++, Visual Basic, C, etc). Most of them start with the classic "Hello World" program or something similar. But that's not the case in this book.
   
   Over the next three pages the book tries to explain that first example, but, in my opinion, fails miserably. Lots of symbols are left unexplained; lines are mentioned, but their purpose is left a mystery.
   
   The second sample program in chapter one is a 48 lines one. This one is only 6 pages away from the 21-liner. O_o
   Then comes the inadequate explanation... followed by the end of chapter programming assignments.
   
   So I wanted to practice a little bit. Hoping to find some other sample programs to clear my confusion, I pop the included CD in my DVD-RW drive, go to My Computer and double click on the CD icon. Well to make a long story short the CD includes only code programs from Chapter 4 and up (This book has 17 chapters). Thus skipping all the introductory chapters. Oh well....
   
   It's good that I have a good professor, because the book is useless.
   
   So my advice is: Do not buy this book if you know nothing about COBOL.



3. I got what I ordered on time a the specified price.



4. COBOL, indeed it is still very widely used today and it is here to stay for a good while, especially with COBOL 2008 coming up.
   
   If you have no knowledge in COBOL whatsoever, this book will be your starting point.
   The thing I like about this book is how they give the many variations of how you can use a certain piece of code, like the many variations of using the EVALUATE statement.
   
   The authors is not boring. He's straight to the point and tells you on many occasions what types of mistakes to avoid because we all know how long COBOL programs can be to debug.
   
   There is always a different example in each chapter and as the author is adding to the example, the full program is given with sample outputs and the code is available from the CD for you to also test.
   
   On top of that, it has colors and gridlines when needed so COBOL code is quite readable.



5. I get this book at work like main manual for all our mainframe COBOL programmers. All the mainframe COBOL people in our shop are old-timers with more then 15 years experience. This book for them is like a bible. I'm object-oriented programmer working with G4 languages almost 14 years. This book for me was like 15 years ago. So I bought for my self new-days COBOL books and was able to study this language. I keep this COBOL book on my desk in case I have to communicate with current mainframe programmers. It helps me to understand what they want and explain to them various programming situations.

No comments about Comprehensive Structured COBOL.

No comments about Vs Cobol II for Cobol Programmers (J Ranade Ibm Series).

No comments about DB2 for the COBOL Programmer: Part 2 : An Advanced Course.

No comments about Elements of COBOL web programming with Micro Focus Net Express.

2 comments about CICS: A How-To for COBOL Programmers.

1. The book is kind of chatty & includes lots of Kirk's philosophy of programming. Might be ok for a beginner who's never used any other communications software. Being familiar with other online programming software (IMS, ADS/O), I found the information on CICS to be so smothered in useless verbage that it was difficult to read.



2. This book is ideal for COBOL programmers facing the chance of working on their first CICS project. Many obscure points of CICS are explained in a readable fashion, making the book an excellent training aid.