IBM uses AI to translate COBOL to Java

Stefan Mileschin · 24th August 2023, 08:56

Could be the end of the older coders

For decades the rapidly ageing COBOL developer population has been kept in work looking after mainframes with legacy code so old they make Enigma look like a spring chicken.

COBOL has been running happily on financial industry mainframes which have wanted while other developments have passed it by. The only problem is that many Cobol developers are headed towards retirement and there is a skills shortage for when the code needs an update.

Now, IBM is introducing the watsonx Code Assistant for Z, a tool that uses generative AI to translate COBOL code to Java. This tool is set to be available in Q4 2023 and aims to speed up the translation of COBOL to Java on IBM's Z mainframes.

According to IBM, billions of lines of COBOL code are out there as potential candidates for modernisation (a report last year estimated the figure at 775-850 billion lines).

https://fudzilla.com/news/ai/57463-i...-cobol-to-java

24th August 2023, 08:56	#1
Stefan Mileschin [M] Reviewer Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania Posts: 148,802	IBM uses AI to translate COBOL to Java Could be the end of the older coders For decades the rapidly ageing COBOL developer population has been kept in work looking after mainframes with legacy code so old they make Enigma look like a spring chicken. COBOL has been running happily on financial industry mainframes which have wanted while other developments have passed it by. The only problem is that many Cobol developers are headed towards retirement and there is a skills shortage for when the code needs an update. Now, IBM is introducing the watsonx Code Assistant for Z, a tool that uses generative AI to translate COBOL code to Java. This tool is set to be available in Q4 2023 and aims to speed up the translation of COBOL to Java on IBM's Z mainframes. According to IBM, billions of lines of COBOL code are out there as potential candidates for modernisation (a report last year estimated the figure at 775-850 billion lines). https://fudzilla.com/news/ai/57463-i...-cobol-to-java

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