COBOL on a PC: a new perspective on a language and its performance

A comparison of Cobol performance on the PC AT Enhanced versus an IBM 370 mainframe suggests that high-quality PC compiler implementations—combined with the new language features of the Cobol 85 Standard—are improving the PC environment for Cobol to the point where serious applications can now be developed and debugged on the PC, either to be run on the PC itself, or for eventual uploading to a mainframe.