Installing the AI code assistants: watsonx Code Assistant for Z and IBM Bob

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This section provides information on the installation of AI code assistants, watsonx Code Assistant® for Z and IBM Bob™.

Installing and configuring an AI code assistant will enable you to leverage the following enhanced capabilities of COBOL Upgrade Advisor for z/OS®:

Automate the conversion of 68/74 COBOL Standard syntax to the 85 COBOL Standard to support COBOL 6 compiler compatibility. For more information, see Smart code converter.
Locate and fix compilation errors and invalid data run-time errors in the source code.

The watsonx Code Assistant for Z helps streamline the conversion of legacy 68/74 COBOL Standard syntax to the 85 COBOL Standard, and it automatically identifies and helps resolve both compilation and runtime issues. To install the watsonx Code Assistant for Z extension, see Installing the watsonx Code Assistant for Z extension for Visual Studio Code.

IBM Bob is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by IBM, designed to help developers accelerate software development tasks directly within their IDE. To install IBM Bob IDE, see Installing IBM Bob. After installing IBM Bob, configure the CUAZ extension in Bob and access it through the Bob interface. You can use IBM Bob both as an AI coding assistant and to run CUAZ in agent mode.

Note: When using AI code assistants, it is recommended that you do not enable the auto approve features to avoid unintended changes or data loss.