LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 

COBOL anniversary highlights a vibrant ecosystem


By Alex Handy
Email    print   
June 10, 2009 —  (Page 1 of 3)
A language can accrue a lot of capabilities over a 50-year period. That's not exactly a common occurrence in software development: Few language have been around that long, let alone remained in common use. But COBOL's place in the enterprise and on the mainframes of businesses around the world remains a function of the language's ever-expanding horizons.

Retired COBOL programmer Jan Stuart worked with the language in many financial institutions across her career. She said that COBOL's strength is its simple grammar, but that its longevity comes from add-ons.

"I think COBOL does it all," said Stuart. "It's only got a dozen separate statements, but it actually does it all. What I have seen is that add-ons have been built around the edges, so I think in the 70s or 80s it was developed so you could communicate with a DB2 database. Extra things have been added on so it can communicate with whatever the new platforms are. The core language that moves data and tests values and computes results hasn't changed, and I don't think it needs [to be changed].”

Drake Coker, chief technologist for application development at Micro Focus, said that, presently, his company finds a lot of work with mid-tier companies looking to move a COBOL application off of an old desktop Unix machine.

“COBOL is available on virtually every platform," said Coker. "It remains true that the vast majority of COBOL programs run on IBM mainframes. That is the dominant aspect of COBOL. That being said, it is absolutely present in the Microsoft world, the Linux world and the off-brand Unix world.

"The other big influence is the minicomputer legacy. In the 80s, there was quite a bit of new software developed for things like VAXen and early Unix boxes that were small office applications or vertical applications. Those tend to be developed in a lot of different languages, and COBOL was one of them. We have a good chunk of business that is that type of user."


Related Search Term(s): COBOL

Pages 1 2 3 


Share this link: http://sdt.bz/33540
 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Jama Contour 3.4 brings shared vision to align development activities with business priorities
New version of Jama’s Web application makes managing complex projects easier
Jama Software integrates Contour with Rally's leading agile lifecycle management platform
Integration aligns product vision and customer needs to daily development activities to empower Agile success an organization
Taking enterprise architecture to the business side
Startup Corso is bringing out a cloud-based planning platform that ties into business plans
Top five apps to manage your workload
Web applications offer new ways to track your “to-do” lists
Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter



Comments


06/11/2009 08:01:15 PM EST

In your discussion about COBOL alternative "For Microsoft shops" and "making COBOL work with .NET" you fail to mention Fujitsu's NetCOBOL for .NET available form Alchemy Solutions and seen at http://www.netcobol.com/products/windows/netcobol.html. I believe that they have had a good implementaion for .NET and very good integration into Visual Studio for several years now. They have customers with COBOL programs written for IBM Mainframe CICS now compiled and running as ASP.NET applications, some of whom are listed at http://www.netcobol.com/migrations/index.htm#casestudies.

United StatesStan (Stawsh) Murawski


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
Loading




close
NEXT ARTICLE
Veryant aims for faster COBOL
vCOBOL focuses on the migration of CPU-intensive COBOL apps to Java Read More...
 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 

Download Current Issue
FEBRUARY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?


 
blogs tab
Agility, mom, and apple pie
If we're to evaluate the state-of-the-art in software development, we should start with the values espoused in the Agile Manifesto.
02/07/2012 11:57 AM EST

RIM woos developers with free tablet
How do you get more apps ported to the BlackBerry PlayBook? By giving every developer a free tablet, of course!
02/04/2012 01:57 PM EST

GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
02/03/2012 12:17 PM EST

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
02/02/2012 08:26 AM EST

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.
02/01/2012 04:58 PM EST

Bloomberg opens its API
Bloomberg's APIs could lead to a future standard for accessing market data.
02/01/2012 04:41 PM EST

 
Events calendar tab
Cloud Connect
2/13/2012 to 2/16/2012
Santa Clara
TechWeb

SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conf.
2/26/2012 to 2/29/2012
San Francisco
BZ Media

RSA Conf.
2/27/2012 to 3/2/2012
San Francisco
RSA

IBM Pulse Conf.
3/4/2012 to 3/7/2012
Las Vegas
IBM Tivoli

Game Developer Conf.
3/5/2012 to 3/9/2012
San Francisco
TechWeb