Learn why legacy modernization stalls and how hybrid strategies reduce risk. Watch AveriSource experts explain refactor, reimagine, and replace approaches.
In September, Planet Mainframe pays tribute to the programming language that has formed the backbone of many mission-critical workloads — COBOL. Considered by some to be a relic of early computing, COBOL continues to play a vital (if often overlooked) role in the...
Grace Hopper is often touted as the inventor of COBOL, and for good reason. In 1955, she created the definition of a data-processing compiler and many of the rules that still govern COBOL today. She also created the first working data-processing compiler, FLOW-MATIC....
Note from the Editor: A Heretic Among Zealots At Planet Mainframe, we appreciate a fresh perspective, even if it’s a bit spicy. The Mainframe Muggle returns with another installment, offering an unfiltered take on life as a newcomer in the world of mainframes. This...
In COBOL environments, runtime-based licensing imposes recurring costs each time an application is executed—costs that persist well beyond the initial compiler purchase. While initially tolerable in controlled, limited use environments, runtime-based licensing fees...
Magie Hall, Ph.D., is an associate professor of information systems and quantitative analysis at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She’s also one of the very few tenured professors doing scholarly work in mainframe education. She didn’t plan to build a workforce...
Derek Britton is one of COBOL’s biggest advocates, a one-man PR agency for the 65-year-old language that “suffers from an existential challenge.” We caught up with him at SHARE Kansas City to talk COBOL, AI, and the future of mainframes.From his perspective, COBOL is...
The Ailments of Age We’ve come to the final installment of our homage to COBOL. Let’s look at the challenges it faces in the future. You do not reach 65 years without having endured some difficult experiences. COBOL bears those scars just as anything else would at...
Early 2025 will mark 45 years of my IBM mainframe-centric career that began as a COBOL applications programmer. As a language, COBOL differs from the terse, mathematical programming languages and Assembler languages. COBOL is perfect for people who don’t have a...
As COBOL reaches 65 years of loyal service in the IT world, this third piece in a four-part homage how a veteran IT technology has remained successful for so long. We previously introduced some of the reasons behind COBOL’s enduring success as a business language. Yet...
