Speaking of COBOL - the next "big thing" of that nature is likely going to be Visual Basic 6.
It's an albatross around Microsoft's neck, but every time they update Windows, they keep around the runtime DLLs - because so many businesses have software written internally and otherwise that can't migrate to something else.
If you know VB6 - and you are confident in migration to another platform, or willing to maintain old code (maybe while migrating) - you'll likely have work long into the future.
The most likely migration path would be from VB6 to VB.NET or to C# - staying on the Windows platform. Another option would be migration to GAMBAS or Mono (aka .NET for *nix).
Those feeling adventurous might try Python with QT, or some other GUI framework; at some point, it might be better just to examine and understand the core logic and flow - then convert it all over to a web-accessible system (of whatever choice you want).
I imagine that in time we'll see some kind of VB6 to WASM compiler or something, if someone hasn't already taken a stab at it. What we won't see, though, is Microsoft open-sourcing VB6 or anything like that. They've said they want to, but due to the various licenses used in the development of the language (and components) - it's virtually impossible for them to do it.
I coded in VB (3-6) for well over a decade, but it's been forever since I last touched it. That said, I'll always have a soft-spot for BASIC (having grown up on a version of Microsoft BASIC on the TRS-80 Color Computer line) - so I could probably pick up where I left off once I rebooted the VS compiler/IDE, without too much trouble.
I expect that might be where my career turns to as I get older (currently 46 and working in SPA Javascript/NodeJS apps).
It's an albatross around Microsoft's neck, but every time they update Windows, they keep around the runtime DLLs - because so many businesses have software written internally and otherwise that can't migrate to something else.
If you know VB6 - and you are confident in migration to another platform, or willing to maintain old code (maybe while migrating) - you'll likely have work long into the future.
The most likely migration path would be from VB6 to VB.NET or to C# - staying on the Windows platform. Another option would be migration to GAMBAS or Mono (aka .NET for *nix).
Those feeling adventurous might try Python with QT, or some other GUI framework; at some point, it might be better just to examine and understand the core logic and flow - then convert it all over to a web-accessible system (of whatever choice you want).
I imagine that in time we'll see some kind of VB6 to WASM compiler or something, if someone hasn't already taken a stab at it. What we won't see, though, is Microsoft open-sourcing VB6 or anything like that. They've said they want to, but due to the various licenses used in the development of the language (and components) - it's virtually impossible for them to do it.
I coded in VB (3-6) for well over a decade, but it's been forever since I last touched it. That said, I'll always have a soft-spot for BASIC (having grown up on a version of Microsoft BASIC on the TRS-80 Color Computer line) - so I could probably pick up where I left off once I rebooted the VS compiler/IDE, without too much trouble.
I expect that might be where my career turns to as I get older (currently 46 and working in SPA Javascript/NodeJS apps).