The History of Cobol: From the Mainframe Era to the Cloud
Cobol, short forCOmmon Business-Oriented Language, is a programming language that was developed in 1959. It was born at a time when computers were still huge, expensive mainframes that could only be operated by a few experts.
The Beginnings of Cobol: The Search for a Universal Language
In the 1950s, there were a variety of different programming languages, each developed for specific applications. This led to a major problem: the programs were not compatible with each other, and it was difficult to exchange data between different systems.
To solve this problem, the US Department of Defense commissioned a group of experts to develop auniversal programming languagefor business applications. The language was to be easy to learn and use, as well as capable of running on different computers.
The Breakthrough: Cobol Becomes the Standard
Cobol was released in 1959 and quickly became the standard for programming business applications. The language was easy to understand, as it was based on the English language, and it was capable of running on various platforms.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Cobol experienced its heyday. The language was used for programming countless applications, from accounting to payroll.
The Change: Cobol in the Modern World
With the rise of PCs and the internet in the 1980s and 1990s, Cobol lost significance. Modern programming languages like Java and Python became increasingly popular as they were easier to learn and more flexible.
Nevertheless, Cobol is still an important language today. Many critical infrastructures, such as the German pension system, are based on Cobol systems. The shortage of Cobol programmers is a major problem that complicates the digitization of these systems.
The Future of Cobol: The Cloud as a New Beacon of Hope
In recent years, Cobol has experienced a renaissance. Cloud technology offers new opportunities to modernize and scale Cobol applications. Companies can migrate their Cobol systems to the cloud to make them more efficient and secure.
Conclusion: Cobol is a Piece of IT History
Cobol is a language with a long and eventful history. It has significantly changed the way we do business. Even if Cobol will not be as dominant in the future as it has been in the past, the language will always remain an important part of IT history.