COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET: A Guide for the Reformed Mainframe Programmer (Paperback)

by Chris L. Richardson (Author)
Key Phrases: press enter, using enterprise services, message queuing, Solution Explorer, Visual Basic, Visual Studio (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
<p><i>COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET</i> is a comprehensive guide to help mainframe programmers successfully complete a .NET retraining effort. This book is intended for the COBOL/CICS mainframe community of programmers making the transition from the mainframe to .NET, and also for those who simply wish to broaden their .NET knowledge base.

<p>Starting with a complete set of .NET retraining prerequisites and a full chapter answering the question "What is .NET?" Richardson skillfully takes you through such essential topics as the .NET Framework, database access, Windows, the Web, and web services. Additional topics include printing with Crystal Reports, using XML and HTML, .NET configuration, and security for Web services.

<p>Richardson also includes information to help the mainframe programmer with infrastructure setup issues, often faced when deploying modules using Internet Information Server and COM+. He provides you with the tools to learn both COBOL.NET and Visual Basic .NET, illustrated by extensive code samples in the book.

<p>Drawing upon many legacy mainframe analogies, Richardson's conversational writing style makes this book both informative and an enjoyable read. <i>COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET: A Guide for the Reformed Mainframe Programmer</i> is a complete and definitive .NET guide for the mainframe programmer.

About the Author
Chris L. Richardson is a senior software engineer on a .NET web development project at a Fortune 500 company. Before making the transition to Windows and web programming, he held senior programmer/analyst positions on the mainframe platform. For the majority of his 20+ years in the information technology field, he has developed using COBOL, CICS, and DB2. Chris proudly reminds people of his mainframe background and jokingly refers to himself as a "reformed mainframe programmer." He divides his leisure time between entrepreneurial endeavors (such as his recent startup, California-based eClectic Software Solutions) and studying for his next Microsoft Certification exam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1032 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (April 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590590481
• ISBN-13: 978-1590590485
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #834,511 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Reference too, July 13, 2004

By	J. Cravens (Newport Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I bought "COBOL and Visual Basic on .NET" in order to learn VB.NET, but ended up receiving formal training through my employer before completing this 1,000 page book. Nevertheless, I constantly find myself referring to various chapters whenever my old COBOL brain has trouble understanding .NET and object oriented concepts.
Mr. Richardson's clear writing (despite his well-intentioned attempts at humor) and numerous examples make me very glad that I made the purchase. As long as COBOL and .NET exist, this book is a must-have for programmers like me. Speaking of existence, I bet that COBOL will be with us long after Mr. Gates pulls the plug on .NET.
If you are or have been a mainframe programmer and whether or not you know anything about .NET, you will be hard pressed to find a book as useful as this or one that is so well written.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally...a Bridge!, October 28, 2003

By A Customer

Someone finally built a bridge to help mainframe programmers understand Windows and the Windows programming arena. While this book targets the mainframe COBOL programmer, it is none-the-less and good reference for those of us who have worked in the Windows arena, specifically .NET.

Chris dove into the .NET Framework with the understanding that after having rad his book you would have a good general understanding of .NET, not an indepth, "let's drown'em with a firehose" manual. Chris provided me with enough information to enable me to learn about the Framework, COBOL and areas where additional information could be found. If I wanted to read further I knew where to look. Chris's style was witty, funny and kept me entertained while I learned.

The .NET Framework is a huge undertaking in programming. With over 5,000 namespaces Chris covered the essentials to getting going in the Framework, giving the reader enough knowledge to reduce his/her search times and find the information in the Microsoft help files they may need.

A good read for anyone starting out in the .NET COBOL environment.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect as an intro to .NET for the mainframe programmer, October 23, 2003

By	Tim Huckaby (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Comparing / contrasting JES to the CLR, then Object Oriented to JCL...I love that! And it's so perfect and makes so much sense. This book is perfect as an introduction to the world of .NET for the Mainframe programmer.

I have written in a few books and hundreds of magazine articles, but I have always maintained I'm just a technology guy who writes. Clearly, Chris Richardson is a real writer. And his editor(s) have done a wonderful job. This book is written like a novel. Most technology books are written mostly as reference. This book makes for a very interesting read...especially for those of us with a mainframe background. After reading this book, the COBOL programmer has obtained enough foundation in .NET, related back to the world he/she is comfortable in (mainframes), to take the next step and dive into more generic .NET titles and some real .NET application programming.

For years my problem has been figuring out how to convert the fantastic amount of talent on the mainframe side of the world to the current technology set so that I can hire them. As everyone knows, this is a brutally tough transition and the learning curve is almost insurmountable. Well, this book is a must for the mainframe programmer who wants to learn application development in .NET and very entertaining for us old guys who love to look back at the way it was.