T ech giant IBM has announced a COBOL compiler of Linux on x86. In a statement (see http://bit.ly/LXF276COBOL it says that, “COBOL for Linux on x86 1.1 is the latest addition to the IBM COBOL compiler family… [and] is based on the same advanced optimisation technology as Enterprise COBOL for z/OS. It offers both performance and programming capabilities for developing business-critical COBOL applications for Linux on x86 systems.”
COBOL is over 60 years old, yet the language is still used in applications found on mainframe computers, and IBM wagers that some customers may want to use their COBOL programs in modern settings, particularly in the cloud, where IBM is investing heavily in.