Right now there is a move within the US Fed Gov't to convert ALC
to Java.
They need ALC programmers that know the old style programming
because some of this code predates MVS/XA.
Just say'n'.
Steve Thompson
On 2/22/2024 12:29 PM, Dave Beagle wrote:
I don’t deny there will be assembler code running. It’s just that you won’t
need assembler programmers. It’s been shrinking for decades as a needed
skillset. Explains why hardly anyone teaches it and why assembler coding jobs
are few. Also explains why the Assembler listserv is almost dead. Ray Mullins,
many of whom would consider an expert agrees with me. Called it a niche skill.
To deny the fact that companies are spending large amounts of time and money on
AI is certainly a fools proposition. Literally, every IT company on the planet
is falling over themselves to get a piece of that pie. Those who aren’t are
going to have a hard time surviving. Even non IT companies can see a huge
benefit and payoff from it. This will be the most important IT venture to date.
People who want it to solve complex problems while AI is in its infancy, aren’t
thinking straight. AI is going to change everything in the next decade or so.
Anyone who is wondering what skills will be highly paid in the next 20 years,
I’ll guarantee AI will be near the top.
Plus, I’ve coded in numerous languages since 1980. Done just about everything
in IT. Was right about the mainframe being around for decades to come circa
1995 as many here kept saying the mainframe was dead.
Dave
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Thursday, February 22, 2024, 11:54 AM, Tom Harper
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dave,
I was told the same thing 54 years ago when I starting working at CalTrans.
Managers would just be able to code in COBOL PROFITS = SALES - EXPENSES and we
would all be out of a job.
Of course, there are more programmers now than at any time in history.
The question of assembler comes up from time to time, and the question has more
nuances than you might think.
As it turns out, there are lines of code and lines of executed code. What that
means is that lines of code that are executed frequently are seldom written in
a compiled language but are instead written in assembler.
A good example is sort. In the 1970s sort typically used about a third of all
processor and channel resources on a mainframe. Today that number is far lower,
in the mid-teens despite the fact that much more data is being sorted.
The reason for this is that some very brilliant assembler programmers at
SyncSort and the IBM Dfsort team wrote code to highly optimize sorting and
related functions. I’m counting PL/S as essentially assembler in this instance.
The same is true at BMC Software and my own company Phoenix Software
International: highly optimized assembler code greatly improved performance.
Even though there are almost uncountable lines of COBOL code, it makes for a
tiny fraction of executed code. Most compiled languages execute a few
instructions and then invoke a CICS, IMS, or DB2 function.
Starting in the 1980s, corporations the world over began to understand that it
was much more cost-effective to buy or lease software from a vendor than
develop it in house. These developers left the end-user companies and went to
software houses where they primarily write in assembler. Now ever piece of
software usually has parts that are not performance-sensitive, so they might
get written in C++ or Rex or some other compiled language.
I’ve grown up with software, having written my first program in 1960.
Assembler won’t be gone in five years or anytime can the foreseeable future.
So I would revisit your thoughts.
Tom Harper
Phoenix Software International
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 22, 2024, at 11:07 AM, Dave Beagle
<[email protected]> wrote:
Assembler programming will be almost nonexistent in 5 years.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Thursday, February 22, 2024, 10:32 AM, Robert Prins
<[email protected]> wrote:
AI?
More AS!
This is on LinkedIn, it's AI generated and you can probably sue them for
jaw-dislocation due to excessive laughter:
<
https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/how-can-developers-take-ownership-bugs-skills-system-development-x9cve
On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 23:37, Dave Beagle <
[email protected]> wrote:
Well, today was NVIDIA earnings day. They are the bellwether for AI.
Theirs is the premier AI chip commanding top dollar. And they didn’t
disappoint. Their revenues are up 400% in the last year. To 22 billion in
the latest quarter. They’ve got another chip on tap this year which should
continue the incredible growth. If you had invested $10,000 five years ago,
you’d have earned 2000%, and would have $200,000. If you had
invested $10,000 ten years ago, you’d have earned over 16,465%. And have
1.65 million. AI is only in its infancy. It will be bigger than the
internet. Microsoft, META, Google, and nearly every IT company is
betting big on AI. That spending will continue. NVIDIA’s market cap is
approaching 2 trillion. It’s now the 3rd largest company in
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