As enterprise IT continues to evolve, many organizations still rely on older hardware and software for a variety of reasons. Regulatory requirements often mandate that data be preserved for extended periods, sometimes spanning decades. Additionally, legacy systems might contain reliable and extensively supported code that remains integral to core operations. These systems, despite their age, frequently remain dependable and irreplaceable, creating a need to bridge the gap between older infrastructure and modern applications on newer platforms.
One enduring platform in this landscape is the mainframe, particularly within sectors like government and finance. These mainframes support substantial volumes of critical data and processing, serving as the backbone for many essential services. Contrary to popular belief, mainframes have evolved alongside technology, often running advanced virtualization through hypervisors that can manage multiple operating systems. These systems, which can host up-to-date Linux distributions, demonstrate that mainframes are far from obsolete and continue to play a significant role in modern IT environments.
For developers and IT teams working with legacy systems, several options exist to integrate and modernize their applications. The latest .NET releases, for instance, offer robust tools for developing applications that can interface with these older platforms. This capability allows developers to enhance existing workflows without overhauling the entire infrastructure. Additionally, .NET’s flexibility goes beyond its native languages, as its underlying runtime supports a variety of languages—both open source and proprietary—that can efficiently interact with mainframe data.
One notable language option for this purpose is COBOL, traditionally used on mainframes, and now more accessible through projects like Otterkit. Otterkit aims to bring COBOL into the .NET ecosystem, allowing developers to work with COBOL code directly within modern .NET applications. This integration is pivotal for organizations that rely heavily on COBOL for legacy operations, enabling them to preserve their existing codebases while leveraging new .NET functionalities. Through this bridge between COBOL and .NET, Otterkit is expanding the possibilities for developers to maintain and modernize legacy systems within contemporary application ecosystems.