Why COBOL isn't the problem
Our modern world runs on an enormous amount of technology. A lot of it is older than people realize. This technology is mostly invisible when it is working, but when it isn't it can cause real problems. When it fails, it is only natural for people to ask questions and try to understand why things went wrong. Even in a best-case scenario where nobody is being blamed or hurt, the technology generally needs to be fixed, and understanding how it failed is important.
Most computer technology is quite opaque to non-specialists. Because of this, it is easy to be distracted by the most visible aspects of the technology. As we will show, one of the most commonly blamed parts is the programming language used to give the computer instructions, especially if it is an old but common programming language like COBOL. In reality this is about as useful as blaming car problems on the color of the paint. The real problem is, and always has been, the fact that the failed systems hadn't been maintained properly. Our goal in this article is two-fold. First we wish to convince you that COBOL code failing in the modern world is a symptom of insufficient maintenance, not a cause of failure. In other words, if a system you are using or are maintaining fails, even if COBOL is used somewhere inside it, that fact is mostly irrelevant. Secondly, we will describe the concepts of refactoring and technical debt, which give a far more useful explanation for why complex technical systems fail. In a follow-up article, we will describe ways governments and businesses can manage refactoring and technical debt.
Imagine that you have just been laid off. Not only that, but you were laid off because a brand new disease was spreading across the world, killing people and overwhelming hospitals. Nobody seems to have been prepared for this, and it feels kind of like the world is falling apart. Despite all this, there is some hope: government officials are saying that you can still apply for unemployment benefits. In fact, more people can apply for unemployment benefits than ever before. It'll at least be something, right? How hard can it be?
