IBM has announced the release of IBM COBOL for Linux on X86, a phrase that would have seemed impossible a few years ago. The new release joins Enterprise COBOL for z/OS and COBOL for AIX in the IBM COBOL range.

The package includes an optimizing COBOL compiler and a COBOL runtime library, and is based on the same optimization technology as Enterprise COBOL for z/OS. IBM says it

"offers both performance and programming capabilities for developing business critical COBOL applications for Linux on x86 systems. COBOL for Linux on x86 is designed to support clients on their journey to the cloud. It enables clients to strategically deploy business-critical applications written in COBOL to a hybrid cloud environment or best-fit platform".

The software includes an integrated CICS translator to handle native COBOL and embedded CICS statements in a CICS COBOL application. It can also be used to run COBOL batch applications that access VSAM emulated files stored in Db2 and CICS TX SFS. The new software is also being shipped as part of IBM CICS TX on Cloud 11.

Alongside the CICs support, the software can be used with IBM TXSeries for Multilplatforms transaction processing middleware. TXSeries supports C, C++, COBOL, Java and PL/I applications in cloud environments. The package can also be used with IBM DB2 relational database, and it has native support for XML. Alongside the support for DB2 relational databases, the language provides file system support for "record-oriented files that have sequential, relative, indexed, or line-sequential organization". COBOL for Linux on x86 support includes Db2 relational database, CICS Structured File Server (SFS), Line Sequential (LSQ), Queued Sequential Access Method (QSAM), Record Sequential Delimited (RSD), Standard Language (STL), and Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) file systems.

More Information

IBM COBOL For Linux Announcement

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