From Relic to Relevance: COBOL’s 88-Level Fields for Modern Coders

Luke Zeisset COBOL, Modernization, Programming, Tutorial Leave a Comment

Remember when blockchain was going to change everything? Now AI is the trend dominating every conversationโ€”but some of the most effective programming ideas have been around for decades. This post examines one of COBOLโ€™s lesser-known yet highly practical features: the 88-level field. Far more than a simple boolean, 88-level fields provide a clear, maintainable way to describe data conditions, enforce business rules, and streamline initialization. Through real-world examples, youโ€™ll see how this feature can reduce complexity, eliminate hard-coded values, and make logic more expressiveโ€”demonstrating that sometimes proven tools from โ€œoldโ€ languages still have lessons worth applying today.

CI/CD for Legacy .NET Framework Apps: How to Automate Deployment Pipelines

Zach Gardner .NET, .NET Core, Azure, CI/CD, Cloud, DevOps, Modernization, Videos Leave a Comment

Outdated deployment practices can slow down even the best software teams. When youโ€™re still manually moving files between servers, itโ€™s easy for small mistakes to slip through and updates to take longer than they should. At Keyhole Software, weโ€™ve seen firsthand how this approach can hold back your projects. The solution is to automate deployment pipelines. It brings consistency, reliability, …

Modernizing Cobol Applications

David Pitt All Industries, COBOL, Keyhole, Modernization, Spring, Videos Leave a Comment

The world of technology is constantly evolving, but despite the rise of cutting-edge programming languages and modern software frameworks, COBOL applications continue to play a critical role in the business world. COBOL, one of the oldest programming languages, still powers many of the core systems of industries like banking, insurance, and government. Why, then, are businesses increasingly considering modernizing COBOL …

Legacy Code Automation with AI: Building a Solution

Legacy Code Automation with AI: Building a Solution

Brenton Damron .NET, Agentic AI & AI-Accelerated Development, Articles, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI & LLMs, Modernization Leave a Comment

This blog post serves as a thought experiment, delving into potential solutions for a pattern I have noticed on projects throughout my career. As a consultant, I work with many companies, each with unique ways of organizing and handling software development. However, throughout my career at Keyhole and elsewhere, Iโ€™ve noticed something that seems to be consistent across all dev teams: the existence of legacy code.

Legacy code can be frustrating and time-consuming to work with, so I used AI to create a solution to mitigate the hassle. While other solutions may already exist (and some may be more efficient), I found the process of creating this tool expanded my understanding; it really helped me grow as an engineer.

So, Iโ€™m using this blog post to share my process with you! Let’s dive into how AI can assist in improving application design (specifically legacy code) through automation.

What is Mainframe Modernization & How Can My Business Benefit From It?

Keyhole Software All Industries, COBOL, Keyhole, Manufacturing, Modernization, Spring, Supply Chain & Logistics, Videos Leave a Comment

Attention: This article was published over 2 years ago, and the information provided may be aged or outdated. While some topics are evergreen, technology moves fast, so please keep that in mind as you read the post.Mainframes have long powered critical financial transactions and government operations. However, across the U.S., particularly in Kansas, these systems are showing their age. The …