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Replacing the scripting language by COBOL

rfuentealbarfuentealba Moderator, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Member, University Professor Posts: 568 Unicorn
in Product Ideas
Hello, RapidMiner!

It's good to be back!!!!!!

In fact, I haven't gone far. I have been working with @MarcoBarradas, @varunm1, @Telcontar120 and @lionelderkrikor on a patch that replaces the entire RapidMiner scripting language by a modified version of GnuCOBOL, because it has the following advantages:
  • A natural successor of RM/Cobol (the forgotten roots of RapidMiner, read more at https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/products/rm-cobol/overview)
  • A comprehensive language that works naturally on each system.
  • A better license, the GNU's Not Unix license, the same one that uses the Linux operating system.
  • Self-documenting features. You know exactly what are you doing by commenting. There is one "division" for each place: your personal details in the IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, your system's definitions in ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, your data in DATA DIVISION and your code in PROCEDURE DIVISION.
  • Backwards compatibility all the way down to machines that were created in 1958, because these machines do have data that is otherwise very difficult to process. Imagine the power that this could bring to RapidMiner!
  • A stable ecosystem, unlike Java that couldn't handle to be backwards compatible for more than 30 years.
Also, this plugin can replace the apps feature by a rather new framework called CoW (Cobol on Wheelchair) that is an entire rewrite of the Ruby on Rails framework (akin to what Django is to Python).

I would ask @sgenzer, @mschmitz, @yyhuang, @Pavithra_Rao, @ey, @RalfKlinkenberg and of course @IngoRM to consider this feature request, please, please, please.

Attached you can find a very early version of the editor with a "Hello, World!" algorithm that shows the expressiveness of the language.



Here is a newer example. @EgiShiaku is helping me with the redesign. It's a very nice UI, don't y'all think?



The only downside I see is that if this feature request gets implemented we would no longer have "5 minutes with Ingo" but rather 2 hours (and about 3/4 of the time would be just for scrolling the code for important parts) but hey, everyone in the community loves him, we would really really love to see more from him. So it's not a downside, is it?

Thankful!!!

PS. Some more links about this wonderful language that will leave Python behind in no time:
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COBOL-01

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    BalazsBaranyBalazsBarany Administrator, Moderator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, RapidMiner Certified Expert Posts: 955 Unicorn
    Awesome April Fools!
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    Marco_BoeckMarco_Boeck Administrator, Moderator, Employee, Member, University Professor Posts: 1,993 RM Engineering
    I was really confused for a short while here  :D
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    IngoRMIngoRM Administrator, Moderator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, RapidMiner Certified Expert, Community Manager, RMResearcher, Member, University Professor Posts: 1,751 RM Founder
    Haha, same here.  Good job! :D
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    Telcontar120Telcontar120 Moderator, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, RapidMiner Certified Expert, Member Posts: 1,635 Unicorn
    I don't think this is an April fools joke at all, I am pretty sure @rfuentealba is serious :-)
    Brian T.
    Lindon Ventures 
    Data Science Consulting from Certified RapidMiner Experts
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    sgenzersgenzer Administrator, Moderator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Community Manager, Member, University Professor, PM Moderator Posts: 2,959 Community Manager
    edited April 2020
    I will admit you got me too Rod! I was first thinking, "COBOL? Really? My mom programmed in COBOL using punchcards in the 1980s!"



    [the tinyurl/rapidminercobol is the best!!]
  • Options
    varunm1varunm1 Moderator, Member Posts: 1,207 Unicorn
    edited April 2020
    Lol, if my name is here with respect to COBOL, then its definitely April fools prank. I only remember studying the full form of COBOL when I am a kid and nothing else.
    Regards,
    Varun
    https://www.varunmandalapu.com/

    Be Safe. Follow precautions and Maintain Social Distancing

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    MartinLiebigMartinLiebig Administrator, Moderator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, RapidMiner Certified Expert, University Professor Posts: 3,507 RM Data Scientist
    I denfinitly prefer a proper LateX support over COBOL. Something like ProcessToLatex would also be nice.
    - Sr. Director Data Solutions, Altair RapidMiner -
    Dortmund, Germany
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    MarcoBarradasMarcoBarradas Administrator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Member Posts: 272 Unicorn
    @rfuentealba great Joke and great post as always you give your 100% in everything even a prank. By the way I think me answer should be considered the correct one since I'm at the top this week. I guess @varunm1 is figuring out which type of graphs he would gain access with this new feature.
    Are you going to use the Create Custom Extension?
     
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    rfuentealbarfuentealba Moderator, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Member, University Professor Posts: 568 Unicorn
    @MarcoBarradas I will create a combination between Create Custom Extension and the text mining capabilities of RapidMiner. There are endless possibilities!!! ahahaha
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    sgenzersgenzer Administrator, Moderator, Employee, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Community Manager, Member, University Professor, PM Moderator Posts: 2,959 Community Manager
    I'm going to flex my community manager muscles here and give Rod the "1000 Awesomes" badge for this :wink:
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    rfuentealbarfuentealba Moderator, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Member, University Professor Posts: 568 Unicorn
    Ohhh, I appreciate it! Glad that y'all liked it. I hadn't used my knowledge of COBOL since 2003. It paid off hahahaha
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    hbajpaihbajpai Member Posts: 102 Unicorn
    @rfuentealba
    https://josephsteinberg.com/covid-19-response-new-jersey-urgently-needs-cobol-programmers-yes-you-read-that-correctly/

    The real-life scenario of COBOL programmers required, I was so cautious when I came across the article first, thought it was a prank. 
    Best,
    Harshit
  • Options
    rfuentealbarfuentealba Moderator, RapidMiner Certified Analyst, Member, University Professor Posts: 568 Unicorn
    I don't know how I missed this last message. Came, checked my drafts on the community and found this.

    There was a huge discussion regarding COBOL in the days after the prank. Someone asked "how much of your prank is coincidence?". Well... nothing is coincidence. Most of us here work on predictive analytics, I just predicted the massive COBOL comeback.

    (The other valid explanation could be that a friend of mine offered me a job despite me not having pleasant experiences with COBOL, ended up making a small COBOL parser at the University that could translate small programs to C. It was limited and much less efficient than loading rmc85 and reading the .COB file, but at least I learned a little bit about compilers).
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