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COBOL skills needed in the future According to a survey of 750 mainframers in the US and Canada, 41% name COBOL as a principal programming language by an approximate 25% margin over Java, the next most popular language. Preliminary results also find 52% of mainframe applications are still written in COBOL. Some of the more enlightened universities are trying to get to grips with this emerging requirement, and are bringing the necessary mainframe components back onto the syllabus. (May 2005 search390) And Now.. Legacy Code What is legacy code? Ancient COBOL? CICS? K&R C? Well, to me, legacy code is code that makes us say "eeeww... who did this?", even when the people responsible may be ourselves, days, months or years ago before we knew better. In other words, legacy code is code that we don't understand, code that is hard to work with. (Apr. 2005 Artima) Micro Focus lifts and shifts Cobol to Linux Micro Focus has extended its legacy Cobol migration service, adding the option of migrating CICS-based mainframe Cobol applications to HP and IBM Unix and Linux servers. For IBM, it runs on Linux partitions on eServer zSeries mainframes, Power PC-based pSeries running AIX and xSeries Intel-based Linux systems. (Aug. 2004 What PC?) Legacy Rescue And Trinity Millennium There are now only about six or seven companies that specialize in legacy code rescue. The leader in the field is able to read, understand and transform source code in just under 90 programming languages, including Assembler, 8 distinct versions of COBOL, various versions of and derivatives of C and a host of 4GLs. (May 2004 IT Analysis) IBM looks to modernize Cobol With the new version of Enterprise Cobol, Version 3.3, the language can be extended to Web applications, SOAP, and HTTP. Programmers working with IBM’s z/OS can generate outbound XML from a Cobol data structure and interoperate with EJB. Also in the new release, WebSphere applications can communicate with CICS applications without having to separately buy WebSphere Studio Application Developer Enterprise Integrator. (May 2004 InfoWorld) Easing Cobol into a Web-shaped world The secret to integration isn't necessarily to buy a dedicated integration platform: instead, it's better to support techniques like wrapping and componentisation, which allow Cobol system functionality to get reborn into a more open and cross-application oriented world. (Feb. 2004 ZDNet) Computer languages are the real Tower of Babel There has been a shift from languages which were slow to write but relatively easy to comprehend -- Cobol, Fortran and Basic -- to languages which are faster to write but more difficult to comprehend. What this industry desperately needs is a new language, one that makes it easier to understand the source code and thus easier to avoid errors. (Sep. 2003 Inquirer) Demand for Cobol skills on the rise With many legacy application programmers in the West nearing retirement, Microfocus believes organisations will turn to offshore providers to deliver low-cost application support. This represents a volte-face from a few years ago when Java and web-based skills were all the rage, but it now seems that Cobol is cool again. (Aug. 2003 ComputerWeekly) Cobol: The teaching tool of choice Not only is Cobol alive and kicking since the harbingers of doom began prophesying its demise some 10 years ago, but it is key to becoming a great programmer. Programmers learning their trade in object-oriented environments quite often quickly become lost at sea without the structured foundation that Cobol delivers. (Jul. 2003 IT Web) Cobol Enters The 21st Century Cobol 2002 will be great if you're writing new applications, but it will take time for Cobol programmers to pick up object-oriented programming methods. There are roughly 2 million Cobol programmers still active in the world, but that number is expected to drop to 1.5 million by 2007. (May 2003 InformationWeek) Cobol, The Enemy IBM admits that at least $1.5 trillion has been spent by enterprises to create Cobol/CICS applications, and the expense associated with maintaining those applications is increasing rather than decreasing. IT organizations find themselves trying to connect legacy Cobol systems to packaged applications using expensive EAI solutions. (Apr. 2003 CRN) Why you should hire the COBOL guy He sits across the desk from you. He speaks fluent COBOL. He took a C++ class recently at the local university, but he’s never used it on the job. Now consider how good your team could become if its members could soak up some of the qualities this COBOL programmer brings to the party. (Nov. 2002 Builder.com) WebSphere Studio Ties to Mainframe WebSphere Studio Application Developer offers programmers the ability not only to write and compile Java code on their workstations, but also to work with COBOL and PL/1 applications on IBM’s Z-series mainframes. (Oct. 2002 Software Development Times) Don't Lose Your Legacy Contrary to popular thought following Y2K, complex and custom-written code, much of it written in Cobol, is an asset rather than a liability. Y2K clean-ups replaced the most egregious of this legacy code, while much of the other legacy software was tuned up with software patches and fixes, documented, and enhanced. (Jun. 2002 ACM) Attention: Calling All Cobol Veterans The Legacy Reserves is "a free-agent initiative" for retired, semiretired or out-of-work Cobol programmers who are seeking freelance assignments. It also plans to offer workers training in Java and other technologies that can be used to Web-enable mainframe applications. (Mar. 2002 ComputerWorld) Challenges with legacy data The vast majority of developers are forced to tolerate an existing legacy design that is often difficult, if not impossible, to change because changes in the existing legacy design would necessitate corresponding changes to the legacy applications that access it. This article lists the most common data problems that you'll encounter and summarizes their potential impact on your application. (July 2001 IBM developerWorks) See Google Group: comp.lang.cobol for discussions on COBOL.
Modernizing the mainframe One of the largest global financial services firms has 600 Cobol programmers working every day to support mission-critical, mainframe-based applications. Companies must make legacy code developers more efficient in their efforts to maintain a massive collection of mainframe code, which often requires days of tedious analysis to invoke even the simplest changes and fixes. (Jul. 2003 ZDNet)
Where can a Cobol coder get new skills? I am an analyst programmer with 30 years' experience of Cobol and a variety of 4GL and report writer tools on a range of platforms. I would like to find an employer that could use my existing abilities while providing me with a chance to develop new skills. Where do I find them? (Apr. 2003 ComputerWeekly)
COBOL's Revenge: When Programs Outlive the Programmers Remember the movie, 'Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?' What I'm driving at is that while COBOL programmers aren't exactly a dying breed, they are at least a rapidly retiring one. Who's going to take care of the legacy systems they leave behind? And should we care? (Jul. 2002 DevX)