Fujitsu COBOL to Support Microsoft .NET Platform
Fujitsu COBOL's support of the Microsoft .NET Platform will give COBOL programmers immediate access to leading edge technologies.
San Jose, June 26, 2000 -- Fujitsu Software Corporation announced today that Fujitsu COBOL will support the Microsoft .NET Platform when it is first released in 2001. Fujitsu COBOL developers will be able to take advantage of all of the latest technologies provided by the Microsoft .NET Platform.
This is a significant advance for the COBOL application development community that often has to wait for COBOL vendors to catch up with the latest Microsoft features. By supporting this new platform, Fujitsu Software Corporation ensures that COBOL will be an equal player with other languages such as Visual Basic and C++ when it comes to using the latest technology. COBOL developers will have access to the latest in Web services and application development frameworks, such as ASP+, Microsoft's successor to Active Server Pages (ASP).
"The Microsoft .NET Platform provides significant improvements in the creation, execution, and deployment of sophisticated graphical and Web-based systems," said Ron Langer, Director, COBOL Sales and Marketing, for Fujitsu Software Corporation. "COBOL is still the best language for business application development, so it makes a lot of sense for us to partner with Microsoft to integrate COBOL fully into the Microsoft .NET Platform."
According to Langer, Fujitsu COBOL allows COBOL programmers, who are responsible for an estimated 70 percent of all business applications, to directly step into the Web computing world using the state-of-the-art environment provided by Microsoft. Further details of Fujitsu COBOL's integration with Microsoft's new platform will be presented at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida from July 11-14, 2000. Fujitsu Software Corporation will give a session at the conference and be represented on the exhibitors' floor.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fujitsu COBOL's Integration with the Microsoft .NET Platform
Why is Fujitsu investing in providing COBOL integration for the Microsoft .NET Platform?
The Microsoft .NET Platform provides programmers with exciting new technologies for development of powerful Web applications. Fujitsu is committed to providing COBOL developers with powerful tools to move their legacy applications forward.
From the corporate perspective, Fujitsu has a high-level, global relationship with Microsoft. With Microsoft's new infrastructure, we can provide a state-of-the-art development environment and set of tools for COBOL programmers.
Why is Fujitsu the first COBOL vendor to announce support for the Microsoft .NET Platform?
Supporting the Microsoft .NET Platform is not a simple effort. We have one of the largest, if not the largest, development teams in the world devoted to COBOL compilers and associated tools. This, together with our relationship with Microsoft, puts us in a leading position.
How should COBOL application writers prepare themselves for building applications using the Microsoft .NET Platform?
If they are not already using Fujitsu COBOL they should move to that environment now. That way they will be familiar with our development tools and be sure that they are not using vendor-specific extensions to the COBOL language that will cause problems in the Microsoft .NET environment.
When will COBOL support for the Microsoft .NET Platform be released?
You should expect the release of the new support to be at approximately the same time as the release of the Microsoft .NET Platform and Visual Studio development tools.
When will more details about the Microsoft .NET Platform and Fujitsu's support be available?
Microsoft is scheduled to release more detailed information beginning with the Professional Developers Conference (PDC 2000) to be held in Orlando, Florida from July 11-14, 2000. Details of Fujitsu's support are also scheduled to be provided at that time. Fujitsu Software intends to hold a session at PDC 2000 describing the new support and will also be represented on the exhibitors' floor.
Will a Japanese or English version be released first?
Both the Japanese and English markets are important to us. You should not see significant differences in the timing of our releases of English and Japanese products.
