A new hope. Good bye React. Meet COBOL-Admin.
React Admin is a great framework to build admin interfaces. It’s based on React, and it’s very easy to use. However, have you ever wondered if maybe all modern technology has become too complex? Maybe, like me, you think it was simpler in the good old days—when you could just write some code, compile it, and run it without worrying about all the dependencies, the build tools, the client-side rendering, the server-side rendering, the server components, and all the other buzzwords that are thrown around in the web development world.
And you are right to think so. We can do better, we can do simpler, we can do faster. How? By leveraging the power of old and robust technology: COBOL.
Introducing COBOL-Admin
COBOL is a programming language that was created in 1959. It has withstood the test of time, and it’s still used today in many industries, especially in banking and finance. It is the most secure, the most stable, the most efficient, and the most scalable programming language in the world. With COBOL, you can build admin interfaces that are fast, secure, and easy to maintain.
Behold, COBOL-Admin, the future of admin interfaces:
COBOL-Admin is still in the early stage, but it can already connect to any REST API providing an OpenAPI specification and generate a fully functional admin interface in seconds.
Powered by AI
But wait, you may ask, I don’t know COBOL?
Me neither.
But with the power of AI, I am able to generate COBOL code that does all the things I want. I just have to tell the AI what to do.
Leveraging OpenAPI to generate admin interfaces
COBOL-Admin uses the OpenAPI specification to generate admin interfaces. OpenAPI is a standard for describing REST APIs. By leveraging OpenAPI, COBOL-Admin can understand and connect to any REST API that provides an OpenAPI specification and generate a fully functional admin interface in seconds. This means that you can use COBOL-Admin to build admin interfaces for any API, without worrying about the underlying technology. Whether your API is built with Node.js, Python, Java, or any other technology, COBOL-Admin can connect to it and generate an admin interface for you.
No more javascript
With COBOL-Admin, there is no JavaScript code at all. The admin interface is generated entirely in COBOL, and it runs on the server. This means that you don’t have to worry about client-side rendering or any of the other complexities that come with modern web development. You can just write your COBOL code, compile it, and run it. The admin interface is generated for you. It is fast, secure, and easy to maintain.
Roadmap
COBOL-Admin is still in the early stages, but we have big plans for the future.
- GraphQL support: We plan to add support for GraphQL in the future, so that you can connect to GraphQL APIs and generate admin interfaces for them.
- Interactivity: We plan to add interactivity to the admin interfaces by running COBOL code in the browser with WebAssembly. This will allow you to have a fully interactive admin interface without any javascript.
- COBOL Admin Enterprise: We plan to build an enterprise version of COBOL-Admin, with additional features and support for large-scale applications.
- COBOL CRM: We plan to build a full CRM system in COBOL, using the same principles as COBOL-Admin.
- COBOL UI Kit: We plan to build a UI kit in COBOL, so that you can easily build custom admin interfaces with COBOL.
- COBOL AI Admin: We plan to build an AI-powered admin interface that can understand natural language queries and generate COBOL code to answer them.
FAQ:
Q: This looks really cool, how can I try it?
A: Go to the repository and follow the README to get started.
Q: What will happen to React Admin?
A: With the power of COBOL, React Admin will become obsolete. It will be replaced by COBOL-Admin, which is faster, more secure, and easier to maintain. We will continue to support React Admin for a while, but we encourage everyone to switch to COBOL-Admin as soon as possible.
Q: Is this a joke?
A: Of course it is a joke. Use React Admin, it’s a great framework. But if you want to have fun, you can give COBOL-Admin a try.
Q: How did it come to this?
A: It all started with a simple experiment to see if AI agents could write COBOL code. First, we were curious to see if AI agents could work with an old language like COBOL with no supervision. We created a COBOL IDE working in the browser. It worked, but with some huge caveats. Then, drawing on the previous experiment, we asked the AI to build COBOL Admin, but with developer supervision this time. The result is this project. There is a lot more to say, but that is a story for another blog post.
That was episode 1 of a series of blog posts about building COBOL app with AI.
A Long Time Ago in an IT company Far, Far Away…
** EPISODE 1: A new hope**
It is a period of software development. React Admin’s reign over admin interfaces is unchallenged, and its developers are busy adding new features and improving the framework. But an AI-powered rebel developer, armed with a powerful ancient technology, has emerged from the shadows and is challenging React Admin’s dominance…
The AI-powered rebel developer emerged victorious, and the reign of React Admin is over. The future of admin interfaces is now in the hands of COBOL-Admin, and it’s looking bright. But a shadow looms on the horizon. The AI worked too fast, and not everything is working as expected.
In the next episode: AI strikes back A previous experiment with AI agents creating a COBOL application starts to resurface, and it’s not looking good…
May the force be with us all.
Authors
Full-stack web developer at marmelab, loves functional programming and JavaScript.
