164e19962b
Co-authored-by: Claire W <78226508+crwaters16@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Anne-Marie <102995847+am-stead@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Jules <19994093+jules-p@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Jules Porter <jules-p@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: hubwriter <hubwriter@github.com> Co-authored-by: Robert Sese <734194+rsese@users.noreply.github.com>
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| title | shortTitle | intro | redirect_from | versions | category | complexity | octicon | topics | contentType | ||||||||||
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| Explaining legacy code | Explain legacy code | {% data variables.copilot.copilot_chat_short %} can help with explaining unfamiliar code. |
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One of the biggest challenges with legacy code is helping developers understand it who aren't familiar with the languages or frameworks. With {% data variables.copilot.copilot_chat_short %}, you can explain the background you have and ask for an explanation.
Example scenario
Consider the following COBOL code. If you're a Python developer (as an example), you might not be familiar with COBOL, so you could ask {% data variables.copilot.copilot_chat_short %} to explain the code to you.
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. INSERT-RECORD.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-STATUS-FLAGS.
05 WS-DB-STATUS PIC X(2).
88 WS-SUCCESS VALUE "00".
05 WS-SQLCODE PIC S9(9) COMP.
05 WS-ERROR-MSG PIC X(50).
LINKAGE SECTION.
01 LS-PARAMETERS.
05 LS-PERSON-RECORD.
10 PERSON-ID PIC 9(6).
10 PERSON-NAME PIC X(50).
10 PERSON-AGE PIC 9(3).
05 LS-RESULT PIC X.
88 SUCCESS VALUE 'T'.
88 FAILED VALUE 'F'.
PROCEDURE DIVISION USING LS-PARAMETERS.
PERFORM INSERT-AND-VALIDATE
GOBACK
.
INSERT-AND-VALIDATE.
EXEC SQL
INSERT INTO persons (id, name, age)
VALUES (:PERSON-ID, :PERSON-NAME, :PERSON-AGE)
END-EXEC
IF SQLCODE = 0
EXEC SQL COMMIT END-EXEC
SET SUCCESS TO TRUE
ELSE
EXEC SQL ROLLBACK END-EXEC
SET FAILED TO TRUE
STRING "DB Error: " SQLCODE
DELIMITED BY SIZE
INTO WS-ERROR-MSG
DISPLAY WS-ERROR-MSG
END-IF
.
Example prompt
You can ask for an explanation of the COBOL code from the point of view of a Python developer.
I'm a Python developer. Help me better understand this code. Please provide analogies.
Example response
{% data reusables.copilot.example-prompts.response-is-an-example %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} provides a high-level overview of the code, before walking through the various operations and explaining them in a way that Python developers can understand. It uses analogies to make the explanation more accessible. The response might start with the following:
Let me explain this COBOL code using Python analogies:
High-Level Overview
This is similar to a Python function that inserts a person's record into a database with error handling.
# In Python, the COBOL divisions would be like:
# IDENTIFICATION DIVISION = module/file name
# PROGRAM-ID = function name
def insert_record():
pass
# DATA DIVISION would be like declaring these variables:
class WorkingStorage:
db_status = "" # WS-DB-STATUS
sqlcode = 0 # WS-SQLCODE
error_msg = "" # WS-ERROR-MSG
# LINKAGE SECTION is like function parameters
class PersonRecord:
def __init__(self, person_id: int, person_name: str, person_age: int):
self.person_id = person_id # PERSON-ID
self.person_name = person_name # PERSON-NAME
self.person_age = person_age # PERSON-AGE
self.success = False # LS-RESULT
Further reading
{% data reusables.copilot.example-prompts.further-reading-items %}