Developer(s) | IBM |
---|---|
Operating system | Cross-platform |
Available in | Multilingual |
Type | Software development |
License | Proprietary |
Website | https://www.ibm.com/products/cobol-compiler-family |
IBM has offered the computer programming language COBOL on many platforms, starting with the IBM 1400 series and IBM 7000 series, continuing into the industry-dominant IBM System/360 and IBM System/370 mainframe systems, and then through Power Systems (AIX) and IBM Z (z/OS and z/VSE).
At the height of COBOL usage in the 1960s through 1980s, the IBM COBOL product was the most important of any industry COBOL compilers. In his popular textbook A Simplified Guide to Structured COBOL Programming, Daniel D. McCracken tries to make the treatment general for any machine and compiler, but when he gives details for a particular one, they are to the IBM COBOL compiler and for a System/370. [1] Similarly, another popular textbook of the time, Stern and Stern's Structured COBOL Programming, tries to present an implementation-independent explanation of the language, but the appendix giving the full syntax of the language is explicitly for IBM COBOL, with its extensions to the language highlighted. [2]
Use of IBM COBOL was so widespread that Capex Corporation, an independent software vendor, made a post-code generation phase object code optimizer for it. [3] The Capex Optimizer became a quite successful product. [4]
Although the IBM COBOL Compiler Family web site [5] only mentions AIX and z/OS, IBM still offers COBOL on z/VM and z/VSE.
The current IBM COBOL compiler family consists of the following products: [5]
Compiler | Release level | Product number | General availability (GA) date (Year-Month-Day) | End of support (EOS) date (Year-Month-Day) |
---|---|---|---|---|
OS COBOL E | 360S-C0-503 | ? | ? | |
OS COBOL F | 360S-CB-524 | ? | ? | |
OS American National Standard COBOL (COBOL U) | Versions 1-2 | 360S-CB-545 | ? | ? |
OS Full American National Standard COBOL | Versions 1-3 | 5734-CB1 | ? | ? |
OS Full American National Standard COBOL | Versions 4-5 | 5734-CB2 | ? | ? |
OS/VS COBOL | Version 1 Release 2 Modification 3 | 5740-CB1 | 1974-09-23 | 1999-12-31 |
OS/VS COBOL | Version 1 Release 2 Modification 4 | 5740-CB1 | 1976-09-23 | 1999-12-31 |
VS COBOL II | Version 1 Release 3 | 5668-958 | 1988-12-16 | 1996-06-30 |
VS COBOL II | Version 1 Release 4 | 5668-958 | 1993-03-12 | 2001-03-31 |
COBOL/370 | Version 1 Release 1 | 5688-197 | 1991-12-20 | 1997-09-30 |
COBOL for MVS & VM | Version 1 Release 2 | 5688-197 | 1995-10-27 | 2001-12-31 |
COBOL for OS/390 & VM | Version 2 Release 1 | 5648-A25 | 1997-05-23 | 2004-12-31 |
COBOL for OS/390 & VM | Version 2 Release 2 | 5648-A25 | 2000-09-29 | 2004-12-31 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 3 Release 1 | 5655-G53 | 2001-11-30 | 2004-04-04 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 3 Release 2 | 5655-G53 | 2002-09-27 | 2005-10-03 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 3 Release 3 | 5655-G53 | 2004-02-27 | 2007-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 3 Release 4 | 5655-G53 | 2005-07-01 | 2015-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 4 Release 1 | 5655-S71 | 2007-12-14 | 2014-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 4 Release 2 | 5655-S71 | 2009-08-28 | 2022-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 5 Release 1 | 5655-W32 | 2013-06-21 | 2020-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 5 Release 2 | 5655-W32 | 2015-02-27 | 2020-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1 | Version 5 Release 2 | 5697-ECV | 2015-10-06 | 2020-04-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 6 Release 1 | 5655-EC6 | 2016-03-18 | 2022-09-30 |
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1 | Version 6 Release 1 | 5697-V61 | 2016-03-18 | 2022-09-30 |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 6 Release 2 | 5655-EC6 | 2017-09-08 | Not announced yet |
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1 | Version 6 Release 2 | 5697-V61 | 2017-09-08 | Not announced yet |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 6 Release 3 | 5655-EC6 | 2019-09-06 | Not announced yet |
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1 | Version 6 Release 3 | 5697-V61 | 2019-09-06 | Not announced yet |
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS | Version 6 Release 4 | 5655-EC6 | 2022-05-27 | Not announced yet |
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1 | Version 6 Release 4 | 5697-V61 | 2022-05-27 | Not announced yet |
COBOL for Linux on x86 | Version 1 Release 1 | 5737-L11 | 2021-04-16 | Not announced yet |
Note:
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Check the lifecycle details (lifecycle dates, announcement letters, and other information) for Enterprise COBOL for z/OS products.
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IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS related links:
IBM COBOL for AIX related links:
IBM COBOL for Linux on x86 related links:
IBM COBOL Compilers Support: