4 ms·

I have never written cobol, but I wonder if there is a market for a COBOL transpiler to something like C#/Java/typescript, or even python would be a viable busi

I have never written cobol, but I wonder if there is a market for a COBOL transpiler to something like C#/Java/typescript, or even python would be a viable business?

yobbo 4y ago
I suspect it's not the language itself but the systems already in place. Transpiling to something else wouldn't help.
- NeutralForest 4y ago
  It's a mix of both, I know that some companies do make a good living writing transpilers to languages like Java or C#. But it also require lots of business knowledge to keep track of the changes so you're definitely right in that aspect.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Yes. I know of companies that run mainframe emulators purely to keep using the existing COBOL codebase that was written for them. They go to that level of weirdness because replacing the existing codebase would not only be much more expensive, but would introduce a great deal of risk that they aren't willing to take on. A transpiler would not really address the needs of that sort of company.
sidpatil 4y ago
The US DoD recently migrated some of their COBOL systems to AWS GovCloud. One of the steps was automated translation of COBOL to Java. https://tsri.com/news-blog/u-s-department-of-defense-mainframe-cobol-to-java-on-aws https://tsri.com/news-blog/u-s-department-of-defense-mainfra...
- cutler 4y ago
  So it's true - Java is the new COBOL.
GartzenDeHaes 4y ago
There are companies that specialize in this area such as Microfocus and Fujitsu. A long time ago, I wrote a Tandem COBOL to C# and WPF translator (https://github.com/GartzenDeHaes/cobol2cs https://github.com/GartzenDeHaes/cobol2cs). The key bits are: - COBOL UI's run in a customer written environment that provides security, navigation, and session data. In the system that I wrote, there's a WPF application that provides these services. - Convert SCREEN COBOL to C#. The Tandem uses a VT6530 that is similar to an extended IBM 3270. There are client-side protected fields and scrollable areas that need to be emulated in WPF. - Convert COBOL servers to C#. The Tandem has a 3-tier architecture where the screen programs talk to services running in a middle tier through an network layer called PATHWAY. These can be converted to classes and be created on demand in C#. - Remote access to SQL/MP databases. Tandem has a Java Servlet environment that can be used as a data access layer. The transpiler generates these Servlets and the C# data access layer.
skylanh 4y ago
It would be if you could be bought by IBM...

I have never written cobol, but I wonder if there is a market for a COBOL transpiler to something like C#/Java/typescript, or even python would be a viable business?

yobbo 4y ago

I suspect it's not the language itself but the systems already in place. Transpiling to something else wouldn't help.

NeutralForest 4y ago
It's a mix of both, I know that some companies do make a good living writing transpilers to languages like Java or C#. But it also require lots of business knowledge to keep track of the changes so you're definitely right in that aspect.
JohnFen 4y ago
Yes. I know of companies that run mainframe emulators purely to keep using the existing COBOL codebase that was written for them. They go to that level of weirdness because replacing the existing codebase would not only be much more expensive, but would introduce a great deal of risk that they aren't willing to take on. A transpiler would not really address the needs of that sort of company.

sidpatil 4y ago

The US DoD recently migrated some of their COBOL systems to AWS GovCloud. One of the steps was automated translation of COBOL to Java. https://tsri.com/news-blog/u-s-department-of-defense-mainframe-cobol-to-java-on-aws https://tsri.com/news-blog/u-s-department-of-defense-mainfra...

cutler 4y ago
So it's true - Java is the new COBOL.

GartzenDeHaes 4y ago

There are companies that specialize in this area such as Microfocus and Fujitsu. A long time ago, I wrote a Tandem COBOL to C# and WPF translator (https://github.com/GartzenDeHaes/cobol2cs https://github.com/GartzenDeHaes/cobol2cs). The key bits are: - COBOL UI's run in a customer written environment that provides security, navigation, and session data. In the system that I wrote, there's a WPF application that provides these services. - Convert SCREEN COBOL to C#. The Tandem uses a VT6530 that is similar to an extended IBM 3270. There are client-side protected fields and scrollable areas that need to be emulated in WPF. - Convert COBOL servers to C#. The Tandem has a 3-tier architecture where the screen programs talk to services running in a middle tier through an network layer called PATHWAY. These can be converted to classes and be created on demand in C#. - Remote access to SQL/MP databases. Tandem has a Java Servlet environment that can be used as a data access layer. The transpiler generates these Servlets and the C# data access layer.

skylanh 4y ago

It would be if you could be bought by IBM...