COBOL compilers by name and version

Table 1. COBOL compiler name, version, release, product numbers, GA and EOS dates
Compiler Version, release, and modification level Product number General availability (GA) date
(Year-Month-Day)
 End of support (EOS) date
(Year-Month-Day)
OS/VS COBOL 1.2.3 5740-CB1 1974-09-23 1999-12-31
OS/VS COBOL 1.2.4 5740-CB1 1976-09-23 1999-12-31
VS COBOL II 1.3 5668-958 1988-12-16 1996-06-30
VS COBOL II 1.4 5668-958 1993-03-12 2001-03-31
COBOL/370
 1.1 5688-197 1991-12-20 1997-09-30
COBOL for MVS™ & VM
 1.2 5688-197 1995-10-27 2001-12-31
COBOL for OS/390® & VM
 2.1 5648-A25 1997-05-23 2004-12-31
COBOL for OS/390 & VM
 2.2 5648-A25 2000-09-29 2004-12-31
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS®
 3.1 5655-G53 2001-11-30 2004-04-04
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 3.2 5655-G53 2002-09-27 2005-10-03
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 3.3 5655-G53 2004-02-27 2007-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 3.4 5655-G53 2005-07-01 2015-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 4.1 5655-S71 2007-12-14 2014-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 4.2 5655-S71 2009-08-28 2022-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 5.1 5655-W32 2013-06-21 2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 5.2 5655-W32 2015-02-27 2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
 5.2 5697-ECV 2015-10-06 2020-04-30
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
 6.1 5655-EC6 2016-03-18 2022-09-30
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Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
End of change		 Start of change6.1End of change Start of change5697-V61End of change Start of change2016-03-18 End of change Start of change2022-09-30End of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
End of change		 Start of change6.2End of change Start of change5655-EC6End of change Start of change2017-09-08 End of change Start of change2024-09-30End of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
End of change		 Start of change6.2End of change Start of change5697-V61End of change Start of change2017-09-08 End of change Start of change2024-09-30End of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
End of change		 Start of change6.3End of change Start of change5655-EC6End of change Start of change2019-09-06 End of change Start of changeNot announced yetEnd of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
End of change		 Start of change6.3End of change Start of change5697-V61End of change Start of change2019-09-06 End of change Start of changeNot announced yetEnd of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL for z/OS
End of change		 Start of change6.4End of change Start of change5655-EC6End of change Start of change2022-05-27End of change Start of changeNot announced yetEnd of change
Start of change
Enterprise COBOL Value Unit Edition for z/OS1
End of change		 Start of change6.4End of change Start of change5697-V61End of change Start of change2022-05-27End of change Start of changeNot announced yetEnd of change
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Note:
  1. 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.
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To check lifecycle details (lifecycle dates, announcement letters, and other information) for Enterprise COBOL for z/OS products, visit the lifecycle website.

To aid in moving your runtime library to Language Environment®, you can find information on how to run existing VS COBOL II and OS/VS COBOL load modules under Language Environment, including link-edit requirements for support and recommended runtime options for compatible behavior in the Enterprise COBOL 4.2 Compiler and Runtime Migration Guide.

To aid in moving from your older COBOL compiler to Enterprise COBOL, this information provides descriptions of the language differences between older COBOL compilers and Enterprise COBOL and describes the IBM® conversion tools available to aid in converting your source programs to Enterprise COBOL programs. It also describes other differences that might require changes in your application development process in order to use Enterprise COBOL.

Start of changeThe following deliverables are also available to aid you in assessing the effort of moving from your older COBOL compiler to Enterprise COBOL:
  • IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Migration Assistant.

    You can use the COBOL Migration Assistant to navigate through the compiler migration process from Enterprise COBOL 4 or earlier versions to Enterprise COBOL 6.

  • Start of changeIBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Migration Portal.

    Check case studies, COBOL experts interview videos, the cloud-based COBOL Migration Assistant, no-charge COBOL Migration and Performance Tuning Webinars, FAQs, other IBM products to support your migration, and many other resources to help ease your migration efforts from Enterprise COBOL 4 or earlier versions to Enterprise COBOL 6.

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Use IBM Automatic Binary Optimizer for z/OS (ABO) to reduce your COBOL migration effort

IBM Automatic Binary Optimizer for z/OS (ABO) enables you to improve the performance of already compiled IBM COBOL programs without the need for recompilation. When optimizing modules that are produced by earlier COBOL 4.2 and earlier compilers, ABO can achieve comparable performance to the latest build compilers. Therefore, ABO can also help reduce your migration effort to Enterprise COBOL 6. You need to only migrate source being actively developed and then use ABO to improve the performance of all the other modules that do not have a recompilation plan.

To learn more about the relationship between COBOL and ABO, see Using ABO and Enterprise COBOL together in the IBM Automatic Binary Optimizer for z/OS User's Guide. To learn more about ABO, see the ABO product page.

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