The Once and Future COBOL
summary
GCC now has a direct-to-object compiler front end for COBOL that targets the ISO definition and produces GCC generic trees for code generation, moving beyond GNU COBOL’s C transpile model. It uses Bison for parsing, a GDB MI Python mediator to map debug info back to COBOL, and adds XML (via IBM’s spec) plus Unicode and Micro Focus features like level 78 constants and compiler-directing facilities. Work includes POSIX runtime bindings, IMS emulation and a JCL interpreter prototype; production deployments are expected soon.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00COBOL’s legacy and importance
- 1:50GCC COBOL compiler project
- 3:19Why GCC for COBOL
- 5:09GCC COBOL in compiler framework
- 6:18GCC vs GNU COBOL differences
- 7:27User feedback driving GCC COBOL
- 8:31First complete COBOL compiler
- 9:22Q&A: ISO COBOL standards
- 12:55Q&A: COBOL dialects
- 16:07Q&A: Mainframe COBOL migration
- 18:38Q&A: Reliability and storage
- 20:26Q&A: COBOL migration testing
- 22:55Closing remarks
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