Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!uhccux!munnari.oz.au!mimir!hugin!augean!sirius!hacker!jeremy
From: jeremy@misadel.oz (Jeremy Begg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,aus.mac,aus.followup
Subject: Re: Language wanted
Message-ID: <6632@misadel.oz>
Date: 29 Aug 89 15:07:07 GMT
References: <1960@csadfa.oz>
Organization: Management Information Systems, Adelaide, South Australia
Lines: 26

In article <1960@csadfa.oz>, rap@csadfa.oz (Robert Pearson) writes:
>       We currently teach a course on file access techniques, file processing
> which uses COBOL as a tool.
>       The course is aimed at information processing ; and the following
> course is a database design, building, etc course.
>       One of the aims is to give the students some exposure to programming
> as well as the background for different types of database management systems.
> However although the students have had some exposure to PASCAL they find the
> COBOL a bit of a drag. I would like an alternative.

        What sort of course is this -- are the students enrolled in it
likely to be going out into the commercial world, or is it a "computer
familiarity course" for students not interested in computing as a career?

        If your students are going to be programmers in the "real world" of
commercial programming, they would be best served by staying with COBOL as
many, many sites still use it.  A student who knows COBOL is going to find
it much easier to get a job over one who doesn't.

        Jeremy Begg

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