Question of ability

[James Rodger]

I have access to a person who created a program for a company in COBOL (yes a long time ago) and he is getting close to retiring, however would like to know whether we can port thr application to Python or whether Python can create a suitable web-front end.

 

The basics of the application is that a transport group have remote sites that "dial-in" ( and yes, some still use the phone lines and not DSL) and adjust timesheets, costs etc., through this application which has been customised for them. What this chap would like to do is create a web front end for his application (and maybe port the whole shebang later). The data will be stored on a linux box, however at the moment the clients access it through a wintel box...

 

Is this at all feasible? your help/ideas/comments appreciated.

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James Rodger
0420312767

[Brett Morgan]

I'm curious as to what feasibility blockers you are fearing with this approach.

Is it a question of finding people with the appropriate skills, in HTML, JavaScript, and python? Is it a budget concern, the costs of designing and building such a system? Or is it whether Python is fast enough to do server side work for such a system?

brett

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Brett Morgan http://domesticmouse.livejournal.com/

[James Rodger]

I'm thinking (and note, I'm new to Python) that due to its' modularity, it should be able to interact successfully with the COCOL program, the question is cost, feasability and finding people who know a little abut COBOL to assist.

I suggested to him that there would be an ongoing issue due to the COBOL program so maybe eventually porting the while thing to Python might be a way out for him, also the web/server/cliebnt approach is something he mentioned that he might like to follow.

Is this project feasible?

James

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James Rodger
0420312767

[Tennessee Leeuwenburg]

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM, James Rodger <james.d...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm thinking (and note, I'm new to Python) that due to its' modularity, it should be able to interact successfully with the COCOL program, the question is cost, feasability and finding people who know a little abut COBOL to assist.

I suggested to him that there would be an ongoing issue due to the COBOL program so maybe eventually porting the while thing to Python might be a way out for him, also the web/server/cliebnt approach is something he mentioned that he might like to follow.

Is this project feasible?

James

Sure -- it's a perfectly sensible approach. Quick, Cheap, Good. Pick two.

Cheers,
-T

[Brett Morgan]

I know nothing of COBOL, so I have no idea how one goes about interacting with a program written in COBOL. That's your first hurdle. Your second hurdle is that you are new to python, and thus have a fair bit to learn. 

Your costs are going to depend on your timeframe to delivery, how much time and effort you put into learning vs how much money you are willing to throw at getting an experienced Python Web developer involved.

Feasibility depends on both your budgets and your expectations. This isn't a programming language question.