That's right, Keil Software, makers of probably the most widely used 8051 C compiler, are proud to introduce COBOL for the 8051.

COBOL for the 8051 includes everything you need for porting CICS and COBOL applications from just about any mainframe or mini to the 8051 architecture. It's based on the ANSI X3.23-1985 standard and is compatible with other ANSI-compatible COBOL compilers. In the same way our C compiler and assembler make it easy to port PL/M-51 and ASM-51 applications from those old Intel tools, our COBOL compiler makes it even easier to port applications from those even older IBM COBOL and WATBOL compilers. Breathe new life into old business applications as you revel in the simplicity of interrupt service routines written completely in COBOL.

As if that weren't enough, SFR access is simplified because you can specify the target MCU in the OBJECT-COMPUTER paragraph. No more using those include files and headers from your past C programming days.

Using C bit-fields to describe hardware registers can lead to problems due to the compiler-defined bit order. COBOL for the 8051 alleviates this problem by allowing you to use RECORDS and PICTURE clauses to exactly describe on-chip and external hardware (bit-for-bit). You can access these resources using standard COBOL READ and WRITE statements.

We've even enhanced the COMPUTE statement and included support for the FORTRAN IMSL math libraries.

Real-time issues are of little concern and are completely addressed by our new Business Oriented Real-Time Kernel, RT-BOL for the 8051.

Check out our ad on Page 48 of the 04/2005 issue of Embedded Systems Programming for more details.

Jon