[bdunbar]

FTA "COBOL code was written on paper, sent to a punch operator, who would type the punch cards"

Nitpick. When I learned COBOL in 1990 we had terminals, typed the code like gentlemen.

What they taught us was 1) flowchart the process 2) write it out by hand on graph paper 3) type it up.

I still use flowcharts. Not all the time, and not well: that kind of thing works much better on fan-fold paper!

But it helps me keep the logic I had in mind as I bang out code.