By Stephanie Glen
A shortage of COBOL developers means many enterprises are modernizing their mainframe apps to access a larger pool of software developers.
But while there are many approaches to COBOL code conversions, line-by-line conversions are never a good idea, said Jason Bloomberg, founder and
president at analyst firm Intellyx. He gave Java as an example.
“Java follows different patterns and different best practices than COBOL, so you don’t want to translate it line by line,” he said.
In addition to line-by-line COBOL conversions, developers have the option to rewrite an application from scratch or use an automated code conversion tool, but each comes with pros and cons, according to industry experts. Which path to take to COBOL code modernization is a function of factors such as available skills, budget constraints and suitability of an off-the-shelf product.
