The problem with rewriting the COBOL code base in a newer, sexier language, is that this new language will itself become obsolete in ten or twenty years. Then y

The problem with rewriting the COBOL code base in a newer, sexier language, is that this new language will itself become obsolete in ten or twenty years. Then you're back to square one re-writing the app in another newer language. So businesses faced with this problem have a choice: accept that their code is written in an old language, and train programmers to learn it. Or pay big money to convert their code into... a language that will soon be obsolete, in an endless treadmill. Isn't it better to be obsolete and not pay conversion costs, rather than be obsolete and pay perpetual conversion costs? Yes, programmers are more productive in newer languages. However, you are never going to get rid of the old stuff, so you will always need some programmers versed in every language, at every stage of your conversion hamster wheel.