The COBOL programming language became 60 years old in 2019, and the Mainframe environment turned 55. During that time, many technology trends have come and gone. Nevertheless, COBOL has managed to persist through the introduction of PCs (Personal Computers), the Internet, and the popularity of the Java programming language. These major trends seem to find a way to incorporate COBOL instead of eliminating it. The last couple of years, especially with the Global Pandemic, have not been any different in terms of technology trends that have impacted and even strengthened, COBOL. This article touches briefly on 5 of those trends.
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Modernization:
One such trend is the Modernization of Computer Systems. For example, there is currently a trend for industries to introduce newer technologies to work with and enhance their existing tools. According to a Micro Focus survey, 70% of companies would rather use this method than replace their old systems. In this trending approach, the COBOL code itself could be modernized, and/or modern interfacing technologies could be introduced.
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Digital Transformation
Similarly, an extension of Modernization is Digital Transformation, where organizations rethink their (old) legacy systems in order to overhaul processes, operations, and relationships with customers. In this procedure, the existing COBOL code is kept but modularized to be used with newer technologies like the Cloud. As Bartollk (2020) mentions in his article, COBOL forms the Basis for Digital Transformation, in Digital Transformation, the existing system is recognized as an essential foundational technology and is preserved.
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New Demand for COBOL Programmers
Since the Covid Pandemic, there has been a higher demand for COBOL programmers, because the old systems are the ones paying the associated benefits such as unemployment payments. According to an article by Murray (2020), Sudden Demand for COBOL Programmers – They Need Help Too!, COBOL programmers are coming out of retirement to fulfill the need for people to maintain these Benefit systems. This requirement to process unemployment claims on often 40-year-old systems has created a spike in jobs for COBOL programmers.
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COBOL Course revival
Another recent trend involves the revival of COBOL courses. Most universities and colleges stopped teaching COBOL many years ago, but in response to the demand caused by the pandemic, two of COBOL’s big names, Micro Focus and IBM, have begun rolling out COBOL courses for both beginners and professionals.
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI), in terms of COBOL code translation, is another trending topic in the field. For example, the automation involved in AI makes it possible to translate millions of lines of code quickly and generate test cases equally as fast. In this way, legacy code could be replaced with newer technology. In the case of COBOL, an option would be to replace the legacy COBOL code with Java code.
What’s Next?
It is remarkable to see that, after 60 years, COBOL is still such a relevant and newsworthy topic. After all the recent trends related to COBOL, we can only imagine what may be next.
What trends have you noticed lately in the programming world? Are there any that have affected you personally?
