> There were only two popular programming languages: C++ and Visual Basic.
And COBOL. Vast, vast plurality of the business economy ran on COBOL. We also had mainframe assembler for when speed was required, but COBOL had the advantage of portability to both mainframe and minicomputer. Anything fast on the mini was written in C.
When I started we had a PC to use for general office tasks ( documents, e-mails and such ) and a 3270 or 5250 green-screen terminal for actual work. The desks groaned under the weight and the heat was ferocious. Overhead lockers were jam-packed with code printouts on greenbar and hundreds of useful documents. "Yeah I have that in here somewhere" and Bob would start to burrow into stacks of pages on his desk.
Cubicle walls were covered with faded photocopies of precious application flowcharts and data file definitions.
Updates to insurance regulations would arrive in the post and we were expected to take ownership and get them implemented prior to compliance dates. There was no agile, no user stories, no QA teams, no 360 reviews. Just code, test, release.
You knew who the gurus were because they kept a spare chair in their cubicles for the comfort of visitors.
And COBOL. Vast, vast plurality of the business economy ran on COBOL. We also had mainframe assembler for when speed was required, but COBOL had the advantage of portability to both mainframe and minicomputer. Anything fast on the mini was written in C.
When I started we had a PC to use for general office tasks ( documents, e-mails and such ) and a 3270 or 5250 green-screen terminal for actual work. The desks groaned under the weight and the heat was ferocious. Overhead lockers were jam-packed with code printouts on greenbar and hundreds of useful documents. "Yeah I have that in here somewhere" and Bob would start to burrow into stacks of pages on his desk.
Cubicle walls were covered with faded photocopies of precious application flowcharts and data file definitions.
Updates to insurance regulations would arrive in the post and we were expected to take ownership and get them implemented prior to compliance dates. There was no agile, no user stories, no QA teams, no 360 reviews. Just code, test, release.
You knew who the gurus were because they kept a spare chair in their cubicles for the comfort of visitors.
Good times.