Continuing my way off topic rant that will return to the original \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
So we’re sitting there in 1979 listening to this presentation from The Phone Company (pre breakup) telling us why we really should consider adopting Unix for our banking work…<\/p>\n
so the questions start getting harder for the Phone Company friends…<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0\u00a0 So a lot of what we do is we maintain very large databases of customer information.\u00a0\u00a0 What kind of database support does Unix have that is built into the operating system or supported by AT&T?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 Well, Unix is very fast at reading flat files into memory!<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0\u00a0 Hmmm…. but different applications and users are all interacting with that data in real time – it can’t be stored in memory.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the data may even be on a computer in another city<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0\u00a0 Well, typically what happens is that if an application is that complicated (like our billing systems), each application develops its own database system to suit its needs<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0 So you’re saying that if we use Unix, there is no fairly standard way to access a specific data record randomly using a key value like an account number<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 Yeah, that’s basically right.\u00a0 Each application will have its own way of accessing the data it needs<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0 So if we buy an application from 3rd party, only the people from that company will know how their database works?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 Yes, that’s pretty much the way it is.\u00a0\u00a0 At AT&T, we write all of our own software, so that’s not an issue.\u00a0\u00a0 We are a government monopoly and have a guaranteed profit no matter how inefficient we are.<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0 So if we buy two packages from two different companies – say a Checking Account system and a Time Deposit (CD) system, each package is going to have its own database?\u00a0\u00a0 We do a lot of sharing of data between applications.\u00a0\u00a0 How does record locking work to prevent concurrent updates corrupting data?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0\u00a0 Hmmm…\u00a0 well, Unix does support the idea of Semaphores.\u00a0\u00a0 Your applications could use them to create a kind of record locking.<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0\u00a0 Downstairs when you took the tour of the computer room, you probably noticed the 3800 printing subsystems printing out customer statements at 10 pages per second that are fed into the envelope stuffing machines that match up the checks for the statement with the printed statement.\u00a0 We have to print 30,000 statements a day to keep up.\u00a0 Can Unix do that?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 Well, Unix supports Ghostscript and over 200 different types of dot matrix printers!<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0\u00a0 So we don’t have any people who know C.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of our people are trained in COBOL.\u00a0\u00a0 What compilers come with Unix?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 C.\u00a0\u00a0 That’s all you’ll ever need.\u00a0\u00a0 Trust us – It will become the universal programming language.<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0\u00a0 All of our data is stored in EBCDIC.\u00a0\u00a0 Can Unix read or write a magnetic tape that contains EBCDIC data?<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 Not a problem – since we have no idea what a 9 track tape drive is or how to connect one to a computer, codeset conversion is the least of your problems!<\/p>\n
Us:\u00a0 But that’s how we interchange data with the Fed and Credit Bureaus<\/p>\n
AT&T:\u00a0 The Fed?\u00a0 What is that?<\/p>\n
So taking this back to the starting point – this is why there are so few people who studied computer science in college that end up doing programming for a living. \u00a0 The CompSci major doesn’t know what they don’t know, but think they know everything. \u00a0\u00a0 There are probably 5 people in the world who actually make their living because they know how to write BNF.<\/p>\n
Go to monster.com or your favorite job search web site and type in COBOL.\u00a0 30 years after COBOL was declared dead, it’s still a highly sought after skill – one that no CompSci major would ever lower their standards to use.\u00a0\u00a0 So they work as Linux Admins baby sitting computers for $10 an hour writing great perl scripts to extract data from log files….\u00a0 complaining how unfair life is and showing up at Occupy Wall Street protests \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
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Continuing my way off topic rant that will return to the original \ud83d\ude42 So we’re sitting there in 1979 listening to this presentation from The Phone Company (pre breakup) telling us why we really should consider adopting Unix for our … Continue reading