COBBLE

A modernized, voice- and LLM-native reinterpretation of COBOL

Overview

COBBLE is designed as:

• A human–machine lingua franca, readable as English and executable as code
• A bridge language across frontend, backend, and orchestration layers
• The first voice-first programming language, optimized for dictation and LLM assistance
• A framework that wraps HTML, JS/TS, and a COBOL backend under one semantic layer

Quick Start

# Install COBBLE globally
npm install -g @signalassembly/cobble

# Create a new project
cobble new my-project

# Run a COBBLE program
cobble run hello.cobble

Example

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. PAYROLL.

IF user.hours exceeds 40
   COMPUTE regular.pay = 40 * user.rate
   COMPUTE overtime.pay = (user.hours - 40) * (user.rate * 1.5)
ELSE
   COMPUTE regular.pay = user.hours * user.rate
END-IF

COMPUTE user.total.pay = regular.pay + overtime.pay
DISPLAY "TOTAL PAY IS $" user.total.pay
STOP RUN.

Key Features

• Natural Language Syntax: Uses English verbs like exceeds, below instead of symbols
• Dot Notation: user.name instead of USER-NAME
• Built-in Lexicon: Predefined common variables like user.email, account.balance
• Voice-First Design: Optimized for speech input and LLM assistance
• Modern Tooling: CLI, REPL, and framework integration

Development Status

🚧 Early Development - This is a concept implementation based on the COBBLE Technical Specification.

Current roadmap:

• [x] 0.1: Parser + Interpreter (Minimal AST execution and REPL)
• [ ] 0.2: Dot syntax + built-in lexicon
• [ ] 0.3: CLI + Framework Scaffolding
• [ ] 0.4: Voice Input & LLM Completion
• [ ] 0.5: Web Integration
• [ ] 1.0: Public Beta

Contributing

This project is currently in private development. For questions or collaboration, please contact the SignalAssembly team.

License

• COBBLE Compiler: GPLv3 (inherits GnuCOBOL license)
• Runtime & Dictionary: LGPL or MPL to allow embedding in projects

Acknowledgments

COBBLE is built on the foundation of GnuCOBOL, an open-source COBOL compiler.