BANGALORE, INDIA: For those of you who thought that COBOL was dead, this article will seem as some sort of a revelation. One of the oldest programming languages in the software development ecosystem (which stands for COmmon Business-Oriented Language) is still used to perform specific tasks like order processing and HR management.

Micro Focus is a company that has dedicated itself to using the power of COBOL to integrate the language with newer ones like Java to create applications and tools. So what is it about COBOL that still makes it a good choice?

“The numerical ability of COBOL along with multi-decimal accuracy – of up tp 38 decimal points – works wonders for finance-related applications. The added fact that COBOL is syntax-portable, ensures that it is flexible and rigid at the right times,” said Mark Warren, product management director, Micro Focus, told CIOL in an exclusive interview.

“If you look around, you will find some element of COBOL running in most order-processing tools, and of late, also across HR processing tools. Micro Focus has committed itself to COBOL and we are ensuring that COBOL developers interact constantly with their more contemporary counterparts, especially Java,” he added.

So, how does the COBOL community interact with itself? Micro Focus admits that in comparison to more ‘active’ and ‘young’ user groups like Java or Ruby-on-rails, COBOL followers are less structured and probably less active. But they continue to do well, what they are extremely proficient at – that is to perform extremely critical and accurate number calculations.