An Apology to COBOL: Maybe Old Technology Isn’t the Real Problem
COBOL is a 50-year-old programming language that some say government should get away from. But it could still have a place in modern IT organizations.
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In April 2020, New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, stepped up to a microphone and told journalists that he was amazed the state still ran its unemployment system on COBOL — a 60-year-old programming language. The state was having trouble keeping up with the massive surge of unemployment insurance applications coming in amid pandemic lockdowns, and it needed volunteers who knew that archaic language to use its own decrepit technology!