Mainframe Programming to Make a Comeback?

ajw1976 writes to tell us that IBM has released a series of announcements today "introducing many new software tools, academic programs, and support for outside developers." The new releases are designed to help entice programmers and businesses back to the mainframe. From the article: "The announcements, according to analysts briefed on them in advance, signal a shift from defense to offense in the company's mainframe strategy. Last month, I.B.M. introduced a machine priced at $100,000, about half the previous starting price for its mainframes, which can run up to several million dollars. The announcement of the low-end mainframe was made in China, which I.B.M. regards as a promising market for the machines."

Challenges

[From A Far Away Land]

I don't think Mainframes will come back in a big way. I forsee virtual servers becoming much bigger, as RDP and VNC protocols get more handy too.

Plus, just imagine a Beowulf cluster of virtual servers!

Re:But how can anyone learn to use mainframes?

[TheFairElf]

I had to recently log into our mainframe terminal, to change my password (everything else I can do using windows front end apps for mainframe). It was the weirdest computing experience I've ever had. I had to move the cursor around the "graphical" interface using the arrow keys and then press the right control button to select an item. Freaky!

Re:Whoot

[plover]

But development has progressed on the mainframes, too, far beyond BAL or HLASM. They now have Object Oriented Cobol, or as it's known in the biz:

ADD-ONE-TO-COBOL

Danke, I'll be here all ze veek. Tip your vaitresses.

I've been doing mainframe C++ programming

[Omnifarious]

For the past year or so. The environment has potential. But the CPU speed is horribly slow. I would have really loved a cross compiler that could offload CPU intensive C++ compilation off onto some other box that wasn't so CPU limited.

It's really interesting the things that take no time at all on the mainframe (grepping the source tree) and the things that take forever (compiling it). It's an odd architecture. There are definitely things you should not use it for, but it would likely make an excellent web server.

I'll be brushing up on my APL

[cmacb]

ALC
Algol
Ada ...and any other A-list languages as I think of them.

Oh great!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Next we have the come back of the Mini??, Maybe I better incorporate and name my new company Digital Equipment or Data General?

Maybe the world get tired of Window infamous blue screen?

Gibsons

[rkulla]

I just hope Gibsons make a comeback. They never recovered after the movie 'Hackers' came out and every kiddie on the block was brute forcing their way in.

Re:But how can anyone learn to use mainframes?

[pc2005]

Find them in India. There are thousands of Mainframe programmers. When I joined my first job, I was initially assigned to one mainframe project, which eventually I left. My employer used to have few thousand mainframe programmers. We used to call that office "mainframe factory". Tell you the truth, mainframe brings a large fraction of the revenue of India's leading IT services companies.

Obligatory

[Shadyman]

I, for one, welcome our old COBOL overlords.

Re:Gibsons

[menace3society]

If Gibsons come back, they need to change the default password from something other than "God", "sex", or "password" to keep people from hacking them.