Micro Focus Introduces New COBOL Development Environment
Visual COBOL R3 includes Eclipse integration, Windows Azure deployment capability, Java interoperation.
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Micro Focus, an enterprise application modernization, testing, and management solutions provider, released Visual COBOL R3, a new COBOL development environment to build, extend, and maintain business-critical applications.
Visual COBOL R3 brings COBOL to a wider network of developers, helping them deploy the programming language to more modern platforms. In addition to continued integration with Visual Studio 2010, the enhanced suite includes support for the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) as well as the capability to develop and deploy COBOL applications to the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud platform. Visual COBOL R3 is also the first development environment to introduce complete interoperation with Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which enables users to develop COBOL applications for the JVM framework.
Micro Focus Visual COBOL R3 combined with Visual Studio 2010 offers tools for building modern Windows and Web applications along with additional developer productivity features. With Visual Studio 2010, users can extend business processes to .NET and other distributed platforms; Visual COBOL R3 includes support for EXEC SQL and SQL tools in Visual Studio. End users can also deploy valuable investments to the cloud and preserve business value by building new Azure applications or migrating existing applications to the Azure platform.
The integration of Eclipse IDE enables users to develop COBOL applications for the JVM framework. The introduction of JVM compatibility enables users to take the same COBOL code from .NET and Azure and apply it to run on a JVM. Visual COBOL with Eclipse IDE eases and streamlines the COBOL interoperation with Java and provides developers the tools and resources to combine COBOL knowledge to code intuitively and in a way that is also native to JVM programming.
Extending COBOL functionality to the Azure and JVM platforms enhances and streamlines application portability and increases user productivity by being able to easily manage core applications across multiple platforms.
Visual COBOL R3 also introduces the Visual COBOL Development Hub, which provides developers a centralized source of COBOL development, testing and production deployment tools on Linux, UNIX, and Windows. Visual COBOL for Eclipse combined with Visual COBOL Development Hub gives users immediate access to the most up-to-date tools and ensures users are equipped with an extensive range of industry-leading testing and quality tools, rather than making a choice between various development environments.
Visual COBOL R3 also auto-corrects coding errors, highlights unused code, and identifies variables, enabling end users to maintain code quality and optimize application efficiency in real time. With the tools to manage builds, identify source code and access to a debugger engine, both COBOL experts and novices can accurately improve application performance.
For more information on Visual COBOL R3, visit: www.cobol.com.