COOL GEN COBOL migration to Java

[Mahesh Kuttungal]

Hello,

One of my customer is looking for COOL GEN Mainframe application to be migrated to distributed system.

Did GEN 8.6 version or any later version that provides TOOL Kit that can migrate COBOL,CICS,3270 code to Java code and FUSE framework?

Thank you,
Mahesh Kuttungal

[Lynn Williams]

Hello @Mahesh Kuttungal

Gen 8.6 is the latest version of the product.

There is no "TOOLKIT" as such to do a complete application migration.

However by its very nature Gen is a model driven application development tool that can generate code for multiple languages/platforms from the same model. Therefore an existing COBOL application can be regenerated for Java.

With the Gen toolset it is also possible to transform 3270 screens into Windows for web client front ends.

However other considerations would be required e.g.
 - The redesign of a block mode application into a client/server application.

 - The target database if changing from DB2 z/OS.

 - Migrating existing any custom Gen External Action Blocks from COBOL to Java.

For this type of major migration it would be best to contact your Broadcom Account team for them to provide a Services contact to discuss the requirements in more detail and maybe undertake a POC.

 

I hope that information helps

 

Regards,

 

Lynn

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[Tarek Kamal]

Hi Mahesh,
Lynn adds very useful information about Gen and transformation as he does usually
In addition, I can share my experience for more than 18 years on CA Gen transformation from mainframe target COBOL to windows target java
In the beginning, you should confirm with your customer
Why does he need to run the transformation?
And he plans to keep the mainframe and CICS by the end of the journey or will he retire them?
Because Gen has more than solutions in the transformation
First, you can only transfer the front end to java and keep the back end as COBOL by (Gen Client or use a framework like Angular, React, or Vue js)
Second, you can transfer both the front end and back end to java
And connect your database by JDBC Windows Linux or whatever
For application servers, GEN supports many kinds of them WebSphere, WebLogic, wildfly, and your recommendation JBoss FUSE
Both solutions have pros and Cons but CA GEN can do that in the best way
Keep in mind the most critical point here is to keep both systems in synchronization status new and old running at the same time and access the same data for a long time until the retirement of the old system
Transformation is not hard and also not easy but needs some time and vision
CA GEN is the best tool for ROI in the transformation journey and I'm not recommended starting from scratch to rewrite the code

[Kevin Tate]

Is your question about migrating within Gen to a distributed platform or a migration out of Gen to native technologies?