If you or your business already use COBOL you won't need to ask this question. COBOL compilers and application software have been in development for over 40 years. COBOL enables efficient, cost-effective business applications to be written, tested and put into production.

But from time to time, each application needs to be maintained. New business directions, changes in government policy and systems enhancements will make this inevitable. This is where COBOL really pays off.

COBOL programs can be read and understood by programmers years after they were originally written. The writer may by then have long since moved on. COBOL, by its very nature, is largely self-documenting, reducing future maintenance expenditure.

If you are new to COBOL you may have heard it's an old, dead language that needs mainframe power to work. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The personal computer today has far more power than the mainframe of yesterday. COBOL programs can be written and tested using a host of up to the minute tools. The resulting sharp, efficient code has been benchmarked running up to 30 times faster than Java.

So why are some businesses trying to replace COBOL software with new "visual" language programs?

1. They think "newer is better" and plunge into expensive development projects using "the latest methods".

2. They are not aware that COBOL has moved on, keeping pace with today's requirements.

3. They do not appreciate the worth of the tested, trouble-free COBOL software they are already using. 

We regularly see stories of software development projects using new technologies having cost overruns, failing completely and being abandoned.

Don't try to invent the wheel, it already exists. COBOL is rolling on. 

COBOL on Windows

Producing Windows applications in COBOL allows old and new technologies to be merged and benefits to be maximised.

Check out our examples of modern COBOL applications on this page