How did you celebrate Programmer Day?

COBOL Infographic

COBOL Infographic

It was International Programmer Day last Friday, a day to celebrate programmers and all that they do. I expect many immediately thought of the many programmers at Google and Facebook who are creating sophisticated, cutting edge software with their skills. But, it’s also worth remembering COBOL programmers yesterday, today & tomorrow.

COBOL is one of the most mature programming languages and still underpins many of the systems that we use everyday – from ATM machines to back end systems that power hospital IT.

Some programming skills like COBOL and PL/I are perceived as being dead but are in fact still critical to everything we do. Therefore, COBOL programmers are key to maintaining and modernising core business systems so that businesses can innovate.  People regard languages like COBOL as legacy and that’s a mindset that we in the IT industry, academics and governments need to change.

This infographic highlights some of the gaps we need to address to bridge the COBOL skills gap.

How did you celebrate #ProgrammerDay? And what does the COBOL skills shortage mean to you? Tell us in the comments below or join the talk on Twitter…

 

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