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What IS COBOL

Programming language that was designed primarily for business, finance, and administrative applications.

COBOL, which stands for "COmmon Business-Oriented Language," is a high-level programming language that was designed primarily for business, finance, and administrative applications.

It has been in use since the late 1950s and has played a significant role in the development of computer software, particularly for mainframe systems and large-scale data processing applications.


Here are some key aspects and information about COBOL:

✅ Historical Significance​

COBOL was developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s by a committee of experts from government, academia, and industry.

It was an effort to create a standard programming language for business data processing on early computers like the UNIVAC and IBM 1401.

✅ Business-Centric Design​

COBOL was specifically designed to handle business data processing tasks.

It includes features for working with decimal data, currency, and financial calculations, which made it particularly well-suited for applications in the financial and business sectors.

✅ Readability and English-like Syntax​

COBOL was designed with readability in mind. Its syntax resembles natural language, using English-like words and phrases.

This design choice aimed to make it accessible to non-programmers and to promote clear communication between programmers and business analysts.

✅ Division-Based Structure​

COBOL programs are organized into divisions, sections, and paragraphs, each with a specific purpose:

  • Identification Division: Contains program name and author information.
  • Environment Division: Specifies external resources and configurations.
  • Data Division: Defines data structures, records, and data types.
  • Procedure Division: Contains the actual program logic.

✅ Data Structures​

COBOL provides robust support for working with fixed-length records and complex data structures. It introduced concepts like the "record layout" and "copybook" for defining data structures.

Data in COBOL programs are often defined using the PIC (Picture) clause, which specifies the format and type of data, including alphanumeric, numeric, and computational fields.

✅ File Handling​

COBOL includes features for reading and writing data to and from files, which is essential for processing large volumes of business data.

COBOL programs can read and write data from various sources, including flat files, indexed files, and databases.

✅ COBOL Standards​

COBOL has evolved over the years, with multiple versions and standards. The most widely adopted standard is ANSI COBOL, which was published in 1985 and later revised in 2002.

✅ Continued Use and Legacy Systems​

Despite its age, COBOL continues to be used extensively in legacy systems, particularly in the financial industry and government agencies.

Many large organizations still rely on COBOL code to run critical business applications.

✅ Challenges and Modernization​

There is a shortage of COBOL programmers, as younger developers tend to focus on more modern programming languages.

Efforts are underway to modernize and migrate legacy COBOL systems to newer platforms and languages.

✅ COBOL's Staying Power​

COBOL's long-lasting impact on business computing is a testament to its robustness and ability to meet the needs of the business world, even in an era of rapidly evolving technology.

While COBOL is no longer as widely used for new application development, it remains a critical part of many organizations' IT infrastructure due to its historical significance and its role in powering mission-critical systems.

✅ Hello World in COBOL​

Here's a simple "Hello, World!" program written in COBOL:

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. HelloWorld.
       AUTHOR. Your Name.

       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           DISPLAY 'Hello, World!'.
           STOP RUN.

This COBOL program is divided into four sections:

  1. Identification Division: This section provides information about the program, such as its name and author.

  2. Program-ID: Specifies the program's identifier, which is used to uniquely identify it.

  3. Author: You can replace "Your Name" with your actual name or leave it as is.

  4. Procedure Division: This section contains the program's logic. In this case, it simply displays the text "Hello, World!" using the DISPLAY statement and then terminates with the STOP RUN statement.

To run this COBOL program, you would typically need a COBOL compiler or interpreter.

You would save the code in a text file with a ".cob" or ".cbl" extension (e.g., "hello.cob"), and then use the compiler or interpreter to execute it.

The program will display "Hello, World!" on the screen or in the output.

✅ Resources​