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COBOL 1996 vs Today: The Magic of Programming
“Software is the magic thing whose importance only goes up over time.”
— Bill Gates.
The timeless concept that programming is a type of magic is as true today as it was in the mid 1990’s, which has been described as the “Wild West” of software development. It is especially apparent in COBOL programming which has gained prominence over the years as a scarce and highly desirable skill.
I’ve been programming in COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) since 1996. Over that time, I have seen the COBOL language, which was created in 1959, quietly shift from a mainstream corporate language in 1996 into a highly specialized, niche field today. Through it all, COBOL has continued to maintain an important presence in Information Technology in banks, insurance companies, and government systems.
In today’s modern mainframe world, retiring experts, pricy legacy system maintenance, and the introduction of AI-assisted modernization are topics of focus, as compared to the peak enterprise era that I saw, and worked in, during the 1990s. The demographics, workplace, salaries, and technology associated with COBOL have changed dramatically in the last 30 years, but its importance as a programming language has remained a constant.
