IBM intends to keep extending z/SO COBOL for many years to come! We have been exploring what it would take to get AMODE 64 COBOL on z/OS for years. Coordination between all of the products is in progress. We could ship a compiler that could produce AMODE 64 object code in just a few years (it would require almost a complete compiler rewrite) but we would then need a run-time library, and some way to interoperate with other languages, etc. How about a transaction environment for AMODE 64 programs? Anybody want QSAM, VSAM, SORT? I think so. Please be patient with IBM COBOL development :-)
Meanwhile, COBOL customers are beating us up about XML validation, XMLSS, Unicode, useability features and many other things besides AMODE 64 COBOL. We have to do it all right? Cheers, TomR >> COBOL is the Language of the Future! << >That plan may be to have CoBOL profitable for some time to come - or >it may be to have it die out - or maybe it will be used as part of >IBM's overall strategy of marketing IBM, differentiating it from >competitors that also produce Java and XML, or whatever word catches >customers' eyes. >Marketing is important. Positioning IBM so that customers in the >future will think IBM first is important. How IBM decides to do this >a question I don't know the answer to - but it is entirely conceivable >that its strategy will include having many compatible tools - such as >64 bit CoBOL that can run on Z/OS and AIX. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
