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> I'd love to know more about why someone would choose COBOL today, if anyone can fill me in. I doubt anybody is choosing to start a new greenfield system in C

> I'd love to know more about why someone would choose COBOL today, if anyone can fill me in. I doubt anybody is choosing to start a new greenfield system in COBOL in 2024. But, if you have an existing COBOL code base, and the business is asking for new features, you have two basic choices (1) write new modules for the existing system in COBOL (2) write the new modules in a more mainstream language (Java, C#, whatever) and have the existing COBOL modules integrate with those new modules (e.g. using REST) Both options have their pros and cons. If you aren't already doing (2), then (in the short-term at least) (1) is the easier path.

mooreds 3y ago
TIL, COBOL has been able to make rest calls for almost 20 years: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52136482/how-can-i-call-a-webservice-from-cobol-mainframe https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52136482/how-can-i-call-...
- skissane 3y ago
  That link is about COBOL running on IBM CICS. It doesn’t apply to COBOL in other environments (both non-CICS IBM and non-IBM) But, pretty much every COBOL implementation can do this nowadays, even if the details differ between implementations. COBOL can call C code, so if have a C library to do something, you can use it from COBOL
ajxs 3y ago
You're right. I think I misread the original post, and assumed that since they were talking about running COBOL on more modern systems that they were using it to solve new business problems, hence my confusion.
- skissane 3y ago
  > I think I misread the original post, and assumed that since they were talking about running COBOL on more modern systems that they were using it to solve new business problems, hence my confusion. Sometimes, a new business problem can be addressed (whether in whole or in part) by changes or enhancements to an existing IT system; in that sense, some people use COBOL for new business problems even in 2024.

mooreds 3y ago

TIL, COBOL has been able to make rest calls for almost 20 years: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52136482/how-can-i-call-a-webservice-from-cobol-mainframe https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52136482/how-can-i-call-...

skissane 3y ago
That link is about COBOL running on IBM CICS. It doesn’t apply to COBOL in other environments (both non-CICS IBM and non-IBM) But, pretty much every COBOL implementation can do this nowadays, even if the details differ between implementations. COBOL can call C code, so if have a C library to do something, you can use it from COBOL

ajxs 3y ago

You're right. I think I misread the original post, and assumed that since they were talking about running COBOL on more modern systems that they were using it to solve new business problems, hence my confusion.

skissane 3y ago
> I think I misread the original post, and assumed that since they were talking about running COBOL on more modern systems that they were using it to solve new business problems, hence my confusion. Sometimes, a new business problem can be addressed (whether in whole or in part) by changes or enhancements to an existing IT system; in that sense, some people use COBOL for new business problems even in 2024.