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COBOL inheritance
(programming.dev)
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You know how folks inherit tools, workshops, or auto projects from parents and family? Stuff like wood working equipment, sewing machines, or whatever tools of the trade. It's got me wondering, what's it like for children that inherit their parents' codebase, computers, keyboards. Surely with the growth of the tech sector and job market, compared to half a century prior, this could be a growing re-occurrence.
E.g. like the entire premise of this YouTube channel titled "Inheritance Machining": https://youtu.be/hearLttbrLo
For example, my grandfather worked for IBM, and my family recalls growing up surrounded by punch cards around the house. Of course that form of programming only lasted so long, so the next generation was unlikely to reuse the same tools of the trade, but as tech stacks have matured and interfaces standardized, what are the chances are that folk's children will use the same Linux kernel modules, custom mechanical keyboards or desktop chassis that their parents used today?
It seems to me that programming evolves too quickly for this to be a significant occurrence. Granted my dad switched careers away from programming when I was 3, but his experience and mine are radically different. Though the first programming I ever did was on one of his old programmable HP calculators.
Which I think is because it's fairly new, only a generation or two, and a lot of the people who built the foundation is still around. I've been wondering what it's gonna be like in a few generations when everyone who built the stuff we use now are long gone. Maybe some projects will be inherited by family.