# IBM watsonx COBOL to Java Webinar FAQ

Webinar Date: September 21, 2023

To access the full recording of this webinar, please use the following link: https://ibm.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1630167&tp_key=ab47307d4a

Unfortunately, a direct link to the webinar’s FAQ section is unavailable at the moment. For your convenience, the entire content of the FAQ is provided below:

# FAQ

#### How does the Java performance compare to COBOL?
> Java will never be as fast as COBOL - it's an abstraction level above. That said, we have clients worldwide betting their business on Java on z/OS, and they are highly successful doing this. And - Java is immensly fast on z/OS.

#### Can you put the link here for the slides?
> All IBM TexhXchange Webinars are automatically recorded and every one who registered will be emailed links to the OnDemand Recording and the slide deck!

#### the generated Java has to follow the COBOL arithmetic and MOVE rules doesn't it? So a Java programmer must use functions to do arithmetic. Is that part of the standard Java runtime to support this tool?
> That is not necessary. What is necessary is to achieve the same desired calculation with the necessary precision and scale. This is possible in Java using natural Java techniques. Certainly BigDecimal will come into play in some cases, but again that's natural Java. We might provide some custom SDKs to assist in some edge cases, but in general it's possible to achieve accurate results in Java.

#### What is the process for scheduling customer presentations and live demos ?
> If you are interested in a personalized, 30 minute live demo with on our experts, please schedule it here: https://www.ibm.com/account/reg/us-en/signup?formid=DEMO-zwatsonxcode&_gl=1*1onufn0*_ga*NzQ4MTkyNTQ1LjE2OTI3NTc0MTQ.*_ga_FYECCCS21D*MTY5NTMwNjM2Mi43OS4xLjE2OTUzMTEzMjIuMC4wLjA.

#### how are the models delivered to the customer? how often will models be updated?
> Our initial release will make the model available as a SaaS service in the cloud, which will be updated very frequently. We will also make this available on prem for customers to run themselves at some point soon following the initial SaaS release.

#### Many of our applications on the mainframe are written in Assembler. Will this be available to Assembler applications as well as COBOL?
> We are evaluating Assembler.

#### what is GA
> GA is general availability of the product. IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Z will be general available later this year.

#### Are the generated JUnits baselined against the original system? If not, how is the correct result determined?
> Yes - they will be baselined against the original COBOL, baselined again against the refactored COBOL, and then again with the transformed Java.

#### In the demo we have seen that the exploration start from a Db2z table. Is only a sample or a suggested method to modernize?
> That's just a sample.

#### Is any part available for using it for the IBMi Plattform ?
> No, at this point this is for z/OS COBOL only

#### Is the transactionality mantained in CICS statement conversion?
> Yes. Same for IMS.

#### WIll it be possible to point back to the translated COBOL sections, when looking at the generated Java code?
> Yes - in the demo you will have seen that the 'generate Java' phase indicates the COBOL app and the paragraph being translated. It's a link the user can select to see the exact COBOL code being transformed.

#### Can we tr y it with our code to see how it works? Is there training to insure the tool is used correctly?
> Please engage your IBM account team as we can support a Pilot where you can test the full product following our GA
Does the tool offer any capabilities to create synthetic data and test cases to validate/test the converted code?
This is the precise intention of the Validate phase.

#### Will you also look to create AI to help migrate from IMS TM / DB applications to IMS TM / DB2 applications allow us to sunset the use of IMS DB
> We will not support data source migration in the initial release. We do have a customer design council that will help us prioritize future use cases for gen AI.

#### How can I try watsonx Code Assistant for Z?
> Right now, we are working on this for general availability later this year. If you are interested, you can schedule a personalized live demo with one of our experts here: https://www.ibm.com/account/reg/us-en/signup?formid=DEMO-zwatsonxcode&_gl=1*1onufn0*_ga*NzQ4MTkyNTQ1LjE2OTI3NTc0MTQ.*_ga_FYECCCS21D*MTY5NTMwNjM2Mi43OS4xLjE2OTUzMTEzMjIuMC4wLjA.

#### How are CICS statements within COBOL migrated to Java?
> The model is as intelligent as the data used to train it. We are training our model with just about every permutation of CICS statements imaginable so that the model will not only have expertise in CICS-COBOL, but will also understand how to transform to Java. Same for IMS TM, IMS DB, Db2, VSAM, etc.

#### The model will be published on HuggingFaces?
> At this point, this model will only be available via IBM watsonx Code Assistant

#### is it possible to train watsonx a new programmation langage easily ?
> IBM has placed significant investment in training our LLM for code. The key requirements are data and Gen AI skills and knowledge.

#### Financial clients are cautious about data sharing outside of their network. Would Watsonx require Cobol code be shared outside client network?
> The only time any client COBOL leaves their platform is when a a prompt is sent to the model for inference. The prompt is not logged, it is not stored, and it is not used to train the model in any way. The prompt is used for inference only and is discarded. The prompt is very locked down. That said, we do have a plan to offer the solution on-prem in the future.

#### organizations have built an ecosystem around Cobol applications, with IBM and others vendors , like Debugging, Monitoring, Code Analysis, IDE´s , Abend Analysis , etc.... those tools do not support Java , what´s IBM strategy for that ?
> First of all, converting to Java is a choice, not a requirement. There is tremedous value with watsonx Code Assistant for Z if you plan to remain in COBOL. Specifically application discovery and auto-refactoring COBOL code. If you choose to transform to Java than industry standard Java tools are available.

#### Will there be a limit in size of the cobol source files?
> As you'll hear from Ruchir, our model will enable a 32K context window, which is the largest in industry. The larger the context window, the larger the prompt - which goes directly to how large the COBOL file can be.

#### Will this solution be able to convert COBOL customized statements too?
> The model is as intelligent as the data that is used to train the model. We do plan on allowing model customization so that clients can train the model on their specific brand of COBOL, in which case the model will learn about these customizations and can react accordingly.

#### Will the watsonx Code Assistant for Z will be part of VS code extension after GA?
> Yes, it will be in a VS Code extension

#### What if we don't have Cobol source code available, instead have Cobol load. Can Java code be generated thru Cobol Load. Just thinking...
> Great question, but no, not at this time. You need to start with COBOL source code. We do have other offerings that optimize COBOL load to exploit new Z hardware without recompile, but nothing that will covert it to Java

#### Since Java executes on a zIIP processor when available will the current restriction of 2 zIIPs for every purchased GCP be relaxed, since GCP usage might go down while zIIP usage might go up.
> The WCA4Z solution is focused on two key things - skills and agility. It's going to be cost-neutral as it pertains to run rate. That said, the TCO in many cases is greatly reduced as the agility and ability to react to market and business demands becomes significantly faster.

#### Will this method work on COBOL residing in Unisys Mainframe ?
> Not at this time, our initial capability for watsonx Code Assistant for Z is for z/OS COBOL

#### Will be available a modernization also for JCL 2 Ansible or similar?
> Not in our initial release, but we are looking at this exact use case as a future capability for this product

#### Is WATSONX different platform than traditional WATSON?
> Yes, Watsonx is an AI and data platform with a set of AI assistants designed to help you scale and accelerate the impact of AI with trusted data across your business.

#### Can it also be used to document undocumented Cobol?
> Our initial release will not offer AI for code explanation (e.g. documentation) - we are in the process of building that capability into our roadmap - stay tuned.

#### Does optimized for Z platform include optimizing to realize net cost reduction from running Java vs COBOL.
> We expect this type of transformation to be roughly cost neutral. The key benefits are addressing agility challenges and limited skills while being able to continue to benefit from the capabilities of IBM Z

#### Does watsonx work with pre Enterprise COBOL level compilers?
> watsonx requires the part of the COBOL application you are modernizing to be in COBOL V6

#### Can the Java code generated by watsonx Code Assistant for Z be run on cloud/distributed platform?
> Short answer is NO. The Java code generated uses mainframe SDKs, data sources, and transaction monitors (IMS, CICS). All of that would need to be changed to run on another platform. You also need to remember that you are likely not converting the entire application so that Java code needs to interoperate with the rest of the COBOL app.

#### This java, intention is to run inside z/OS ? Whats stopping the customer from running this on distributed ?
> Yes this is designed to run Java on z/OS. Our LLM is trained on all the z/OS libraries and SDKs (e.g. JZOS, JCICS, etc) (i.e. CICS COBOL is translated to CICS Java) in order to assure the performance, security, etc needed. Given this type of Java output, it won't run outside of z/OS

#### Does it support transformation to microservices architecture?
> The refactoring capability supports decomposing the monolithic application, which is part of the transformation to a more micro oriented architecture

#### Will the service designer also be integrated into Eclipse?
> Our current plan is to integrated into VS Code. We will consider additional IDEs in our roadmap, but not currently in plan.

#### Can I use this tooling also for documenting existing Cobol applications without converting to Java?
> Yes, you can go thru an application discovery process where watsonx Code Assistant for Z will read in your Cobol source code and document the application, data sources, and relationships as meta data. You can then use this to help identify and refactor a COBOL business service. You can choose to leave that refactored code in COBOL or optionally tranform it to Java.

#### Is ADDI a prereq for Watsonx CA for the discovery process?
> No, the IBM watsonx Code Assistant will provide all the end-to-end capabilities needed for understand, refactor, transform when we GA.

#### what level of supporting documentation generated when we convert from COBOL to java?
> Our initial release will not have AI generated documentation. That capability is on our roadmap

#### will this support only IBM cobol code or does it supports HP nonstop Tandem COBOL 85 code as well?
> Our initial release is specifically for z/OS COBOL

#### Watsonx sounds interesting. Are we only focusing on COBOL to Java? Because mainframe has many other programming languages for instance lets take an PL/1 as example. So do we have solution for this case?
> Thank you. Additional programming languages will be under consideration for our future roadmap.

#### Can we try watsonx Code Assistant for Z?
> Once the product becomes generally available later this year you will be able to try it.

#### Can we get code translated to a specific Java version. For example if we need the target code to follow Java 8 constructs.
> Java 11 will be supported in our initial general availability

#### Is the converted code easily readable and maintainable?
> Yes, you will see more in Kyle's demo and you'll hear more from Ruchir today.

#### Watsonx code assistant can be implemented on IBM Z15 system?
> Yes, IBM z15 is supported

#### Will you look to create AI to help customers move from older versions of COBOL to either COBOL V6 or JAVA , This has been a challenge for many organizations
> This will be considered for our future roadmap. Thank you for the question / requirement.

#### Does watsonx aim to replace fully Cobol with Java?
> Absolutely not! COBOL is still a high priority for IBM and many of our customers. Users of watsonx Code Assistant will be able to selectively transform COBOL to Java.

#### Why microfocus cobol is not supported?
> The current scope of this solution is mainframe COBOL application modernization. IBM will be exploring with our clients other use cases as part of our future roadmap.

#### Watsonx code assistant able to convert PL1 to Java?
> Not initially, this will be considered for our future roadmap. I am seeing a lot of "votes" here today. :)

#### What is the pricing model for using Watsonz code Assistant?
> Pricing details will be made available before we GA the product. Please watch this space.

#### Can the modernized application be deployed on a non-IBM (x86) Platforms?
> As you will see in the demo, the Java code is optimized for the IBM Z platform - using mainframe SDKs, data sources, and transaction managers. So the translated code will only run on IBM Z (mainframe)

#### How accurate is the Java generated code ? is it 100%?
> We'll cover this, but it's important to recognize that this is AI-assisted app modernization. AI will never get to 100% - developers are key to the process of modernization.

#### Is there a plan to offer similar modernization for other technologies (like PL/I, Assembler) ?
> We are constantly looking for requirements and feedback. These capabilities will be considered for our future roadmap. Thank you.

#### Will this presentation available at the end of the event?
> All IBM TexhXchange Webinars are automatically recorded and every one who registered will be emailed links to the OnDemand Recording and the slide deck!

#### We have lots of old PL/I code running and would love that to be considered for Java generation as well. Not really a question, but a comment.
> Thank you for this feedback. IBM sees this as a priority as well, and we will consider it for our future roadmap.

#### Is the converted Java code portable to any run-time or would it be limited to run only on Z?
> The Java code is leveraging the rich 20+ year history of Java SDKs that the Z platform provides. Those SDKs are optimized for Z and are not available on other platforms. For example, a COBOL app running in IMS TM access Db2 that is transformed to Java will be using the IMS TM SDKs and the Db2 JDBC driver. The app server and data servers remain the same, for good reason. There's significant risk migrating an entire data model and app server model.

#### Does the COBOL to Java AI product convert older releases of COBOL? We have many old versions of COBOL running currently.
> COBOL V6 will be required for conversion to Java. But you don't need your entire application estate to be at V6, just the application you are modernizing.

#### Is there a demo which shows how some COBOL code getting transformed to Java code?
> Yes! We will be showing this demo live in the webinar today. We also have a pre-recorded demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJr0iKXKr3M

#### Will it work with Microfocus COBOL?
> No, Microfocus COBOL is not supported

#### Does IBM Watsonx have any feature for converting Assembly language to Java?
> In our GA product available later this year, only COBOL to Java is supported. We are looking at other use cases as part of our roadmap.

#### Will the slides be shared after the evebt?
> All IBM TexhXchange Webinars are automatically recorded and every one who registered will be emailed links to the OnDemand Recording and the slide deck!

#### Hi, Will this be recorded?
> All IBM TexhXchange Webinars are automatically recorded and every one who registered will be emailed links to the OnDemand Recording and the slide deck!

#### Test
> Test echo