Which is better, COBOL/DB2 or Natural/ADABAS?Please give the advantages/disadvantages.Thanks?

Question

I have been a Mainframe COBOL programmer for 3 years. I have a job offer also as a Mainframe Programmer but the language is not COBOL. It is NATURAL programming and ADABAS. It also runs in mainframe. I now have to decide if I am going to accept the job offer. Would there be no disadvantages on my end and on my career if I accept this offer? Please help me because I am not familiar with Natural/ADABAS. Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I've been in the COBOL business 45 plus years.

You should be good to go with NATURAL because NATURAL/ADABAS involves COBOL and it is somewhat popular.



Besides you will add other mainframe tools (JCL, Utilities, etc) and one more application to your resume.



The only caution: Don't get stagnated. COBOL is here to stay.

However, try to get on board with .NET anything - including COBOL (Fujitsu and MicroFocus).



The advantage of DB2 - It is the IBM Legacy standard SQL which lives in both worlds - Legacy and ERP and is transferable knowledge. NATURAL/ADABAS not so much.



HankD

Answer 2

Advantages Of Cobol

Answer 3

Angie, I'd go for it. Have a look at the wiki article. Natural looks simple as compared to COBOL. Keep up your COBOL skills however. COBOL commands the highest contract rate on freelance.



Software AG is the largest software company in Germany.

Answer 4

I don't forsee much trouble wrt ADABAS - one SQL-based DBMS is much like another as far as how the queries are structured...the only real difference is likely to be built-in function names.



While I've never used it, Natural looks very similar to Easytreve to me (another 4GL). As such, there will be a certain learning curve but shouldn't be anything major. Assuming the employer knows going in you are not familiar with both, I don't imagine there will be a problem.