At the height of COBOL usage in the 1960s through 1980s, the IBM COBOL product was the most important of any industry COBOL compilers. In his popular textbook A Simplified Guide to Structured COBOL Programming, Daniel D. McCracken tries to make the treatment general for any machine and compiler, but when he gives details for a particular one, they are to the IBM COBOL compiler and for a System/370.[1] Similarly, another popular textbook of the time, Stern and Stern's Structured COBOL Programming, tries to present an implementation-independent explanation of the language, but the appendix giving the full syntax of the language is explicitly for IBM COBOL, with its extensions to the language highlighted.[2]
IBM COBOL compiler name, version, release, product numbers, GA and EOS dates
Compiler
Release level
Product number
General availability (GA) date
(Year-Month-Day)
End of support (EOS) date
(Year-Month-Day)
OS COBOL E
360S-C0-503
?
?
OS COBOL F
360S-CB-524
?
?
OS American National Standard COBOL (COBOL U)
Versions 1-2
360S-CB-545
?
?
OS Full American National Standard COBOL
Versions 1-3
5734-CB1
?
?
OS Full American National Standard COBOL
Versions 4-5
5734-CB2
?
?
OS/VS COBOL
Version 1 Release 2 Modification 3
5740-CB1
1974-09-23
1999-12-31
OS/VS COBOL
Version 1 Release 2 Modification 4
5740-CB1
1976-09-23
1999-12-31
VS COBOL II
Version 1 Release 3
5668-958
1988-12-16
1996-06-30
VS COBOL II
Version 1 Release 4
5668-958
1993-03-12
2001-03-31
COBOL/370
Version 1 Release 1
5688-197
1991-12-20
1997-09-30
COBOL for MVS & VM
Version 1 Release 2
5688-197
1995-10-27
2001-12-31
COBOL for OS/390 & VM
Version 2 Release 1
5648-A25
1997-05-23
2004-12-31
COBOL for OS/390 & VM
Version 2 Release 2
5648-A25
2000-09-29
2004-12-31
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 3 Release 1
5655-G53
2001-11-30
2004-04-04
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 3 Release 2
5655-G53
2002-09-27
2005-10-03
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 3 Release 3
5655-G53
2004-02-27
2007-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 3 Release 4
5655-G53
2005-07-01
2015-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 4 Release 1
5655-S71
2007-12-14
2014-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 4 Release 2
5655-S71
2009-08-28
2022-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 5 Release 1
5655-W32
2013-06-21
2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 5 Release 2
5655-W32
2015-02-27
2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
Version 5 Release 2
5697-ECV
2015-10-06
2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 6 Release 1
5655-EC6
2016-03-18
2022-09-30
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
Version 6 Release 1
5697-V61
2016-03-18
2022-09-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 6 Release 2
5655-EC6
2017-09-08
2024-09-30
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
Version 6 Release 2
5697-V61
2017-09-08
2024-09-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 6 Release 3
5655-EC6
2019-09-06
Not announced yet
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
Version 6 Release 3
5697-V61
2019-09-06
Not announced yet
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
Version 6 Release 4
5655-EC6
2022-05-27
Not announced yet
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
Version 6 Release 4
5697-V61
2022-05-27
Not announced yet
COBOL for Linux on x86
Version 1 Release 1
5737-L11
2021-04-16
Not announced yet
COBOL for Linux on x86
Version 1 Release 2
5737-L11
2023-06-09
Not announced yet
Note:
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS is the same as Enterprise COBOL for z/OS made available under a different product number and pricing metric.
Check the lifecycle details (lifecycle dates, announcement letters, and other information) for Enterprise COBOL for z/OS products.
References
↑McCracken, Daniel D. (1976). A Simplified Guide to Structured COBOL Programming. Wiley. pp.1, 7–9, 68–69, 78n, 149. ISBN0-471-58284-0.
↑Stern, Nancy; Stern, Robert A. (1980). Structured COBOL Programming (3rded.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp.x, 4–5, Appendix E (539–561). ISBN0-471-04913-1.
↑"uncertain". EDP Analyzer. Vol.9–10. United Communications Group. 1971. pp.2–3.
