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--- cobol [2016/08/16 19:30]
blair created
+++ cobol [2017/11/10 23:14] (current)
jandal Add description.
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-COBOL Programming Language
+====== COBOL ======
+COBOL, the COmmon Business-Oriented Language, was created by the CODASYL
+consortium in 1959. COBOL was designed to be used for business
+programming tasks, and, as such, the language has had little interaction
+with, or input from, the computer science community. In fact, computer
+scientists including Edsger Dijkstra have heavily criticised the
+language.
+One of the design goals of the language was for COBOL programs to be
+readable (and perhaps writable) by non-programmers, such as executives.
+COBOL has, however, arguably failed at this goal. The language adopts an
+immensely verbose syntax, but also rigid structural requirements, which
+have their origins in the era of punched cards. It provides only limited
+support for structured programming.
+Despite its shortcomings, COBOL is still widely used in business and
+government applications, and estimates claim that many billions of lines
+of COBOL code (a testament to its verbosity as much as its popularity)
+are maintained today, primarily as legacy applications.
+===== Example =====
+==== Hello World ====
+     FMT CB ......-A+++B+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+            *************** Beginning of data *************************************
+.00        PROGRAM-ID. HELLO.
+.00        PROCEDURE DIVISION.
+.00            DISPLAY "HELLO, WORLD"
+.00            STOP RUN.
+            ****************** End of data ****************************************

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