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[DISCUSS] IBM using LLMs to convert COBOL to Java (techcrunch.com)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It's not the 1st time a language/tool will be lost to the annals of the job market, eg VB6 or FoxPro. Though previously all such cases used to happen gradually, giving most people enough time to adapt to the changes.

I wonder what's it going to be like this time now that the machine, w/ the help of humans of course, can accomplish an otherwise multi-month risky corporate project much faster? What happens to all those COBOL developer jobs?

Pray share your thoughts, esp if you're a COBOL professional and have more context around the implication of this announcement 🙏

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Cross compiler" usually means a compiler that generates machine code for a machine other than what it runs on. For example, a compiler that runs on X86_64 but creates binaries for Atmel microcontrollers.

You might be thinking of transpilers, which produce source code in a different language. The f2c Fortran-to-C compiler is an example of that.

In my experience, transpiler output is practically unusable to a human reader. I'm guessing (I haven't read the article) that IBM is using AI to convert COBOL to readable, maintainable Java. If it can do so without errors, that's a big deal for mainframe users.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Transpiler, that's it. And thanks for your answer.