Labels:text | letter | book | font OCR: SLOUCHING TOWARD THE MILLENNIUM? According to a survey conducted in mid-1995 by International Data Corp ., Cobol is still the leading language choice at development sites. Of 800 MIS managers surveyed, 29.5% said their staffs still rely on Cobol. The second and third most-utilized languages are C+ + and Visual Basic, with 16% and 15%, respectively. When asked what they believed they would be using 18 months out, a smaller percentage of respondents, 26.2%, cited Cobol. In contrast, respondents expected their use of VB and C+ + to grow considerably. 29,5% 26.2% 22.796 22% 1.696 15º% Mid-1995 End of 1996 Mid-1995 End of 1996 Mid-1995 End of 1996 COBOL VISUAL BASIC SOURCE; INC The Cobol figures, said IDC's Evan Quinn, represent the continuation of "a slow drift downwards." While Year 2000 problems will keep Cobol programmers in demand at least through the turn of the century, he said, "in the five years following [the year) 2000, Cobol will begin to drift back in earnest." However, said Quinn, Cobol vendors have a "window of opportunity" with object-oriented Cobol. Furthermore, "hooking Cobol to OLE, SOM and DSOM to make it attractive to corporate America" will help its chances, he sald.
