Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!gargoyle!oddjob!mimsy!chris
From: chris@mimsy.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Wang VS Cobol to C translator
Message-ID: <7055@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 15-Jun-87 02:37:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: mimsy.7055
Posted: Mon Jun 15 02:37:53 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Jun-87 01:54:05 EDT
References: <600@attvcr.UUCP> <902@rtech.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 22

In article <902@rtech.UUCP> brent@rtech.UUCP (Brent Williams) writes:
>The main problem [with COBOL-to-C in general] is the use of packed
>decimal versus floating point.  It's not part of standard C to support
>use of packed decimal numerics.

So write a run-time library.

>Other problems exist, ....

Sounds like an understatement. :-)

>[Many other hard things]

As long as the languages are Turing-equivalent, you can simulate
anything in anything else.  Having done some translation myself,
though, I would say that the best results are accomplished by
rewriting the original program largely from scratch, borrowing only
key algorithms and/or data structures.  Such `translations' are
expensive, of course.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7690)
Domain:	chris@mimsy.umd.edu	Path:	seismo!mimsy!chris