Integrating technology that's fifty years old, with the 21st century is no easy task. One can't, for example, sync their iPod with a gramophone, upload a document to a typewriter or text a friend from a phone box.

Yet much of the technology which underpins the day-to-day running of our financial system is inextricably linked to an innovation which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. Over the past 50 years, more than an estimated 220 billion lines of COBOL code have been created – definitively staking its position as one of the most heavily used enterprise languages.

Changing with time

However, despite these impressive numbers, the popular train of thought is that the language is “dead” or is “dying.” This perception stems from the language being 50 years old, but in reality, programmers should see COBOL as a language that just started 50 years ago. Over the past few decades, COBOL has developed and changed to the point where it is currently cloud-enabled and mobile device friendly.

Yesterday's COBOL features – punch cards, paper tape and big computers – have all disappeared over the course of time. COBOL has modernized to maintain its relevance and just like the telephone became today's iPhone and dictionaries became Dictionary.com, COBOL has been continuously modernized and updated in order remain on the programming forefront.

Though largely unheard of among the millions of people who interact with COBOL on a daily basis, Today COBOL is everywhere. Its reach is so pervasive that it is almost unthinkable that the average person could go a day without it.

Not only is COBOL one of the oldest business programming languages used today, it is also one of the most widely used and tested. When government officials sat around a desk at the Pentagon they aimed to provide a common standard for programmers based on the use of simple, plain English, which simplified the coding process for developers and businesses alike.