COBOL has been running happily on financial industry mainframes which have wanted while other developments have passed it by.  The only problem is that many Cobol developers are headed towards retirement and there is a skills shortage for when the code needs an update.

Now, IBM is introducing the watsonx Code Assistant for Z, a tool that uses generative AI to translate COBOL code to Java. This tool is set to be available in Q4 2023 and aims to speed up the translation of COBOL to Java on IBM's Z mainframes.

According to IBM, billions of lines of COBOL code are out there as potential candidates for modernisation (a report last year estimated the figure at 775-850 billion lines).

The generative AI features in watsonx Code Assistant for Z are intended to help developers to assess and determine the code most in need of modernisation, allowing them to update large applications and focus on critical tasks more speedily.

IBM wants to provide tooling for each step of the modernisation process, starting with its Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) inventory and analysis tool. Other steps include refactoring business services in COBOL, transforming the code to Java code, and validating the resulting outcome with automated testing.

The resulting Java code emitted by watsonx Code Assistant for Z will be object-oriented but will still interoperate with the rest of the COBOL application IBM claimed, as well as with key services such as CICS, IMS, DB2, and other z/OS runtimes.