What’s COBOL?

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COBOL is an old programming language used in business and finance. It was influenced by FLOW-MATIC, IBM COMTRAN, and Honeywell’s FACT. Grace Hopper is known as the “mother of COBOL”. The language has evolved and has a standard form called ANS COBOL. It has many features and can integrate with the World Wide Web. The 4th revision added new features like national language support and XML generation. COBOL automates businesses and solves business problems.

The common business-oriented language, more commonly known as the COBOL language, is one of the oldest programming languages ​​in existence. COBOL languages ​​are mostly found in areas such as business and finance for government, as well as many companies. COBOL Language first appeared in late 1959, after a short-range committee, formed during a Pentagon meeting, was asked to recommend a new approach to a common business language.

The written description of COBOL, as well as its specifications, have been influenced by another language, called FLOW-MATIC. Other languages ​​have also been influential in the development of COBOL. One, invented by Bob Bemer, was the IBM COMTRAN language. Another was Honeywell’s FACT language. It is Grace Hopper, however, who is often referred to as “the mother of the COBOL language”.

FLOW-MATIC, a data processing language, was invented by Grace Hopper, an American computer scientist and US Navy officer. File separation (INPUT/OUTPUT), data name qualification, and the figurative constant ZERO are just some of the elements that have been incorporated into the design of COBOL. Of course, COBOL has undergone several improvements and even continues to evolve, but a standard form of the language has been developed to prevent incompatibility between different versions. The version is known as ANS COBOL, named after the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

ANSI produced several revisions of the COBOL standard, including the Corrections Amendment – ​​1991. The development and ownership were eventually taken over by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which published several editions and technical reports. The ISO standard became publicly available in 2002. It can be found on the COBOL standards website, coded as ISO/IEC 1989.

COBOL’s significant feature variables and file records are described in great detail, so the names become really connotative. Visual programming environments become accessible. It also allows for integration with the World Wide Web.

In 2002, the 4th revision of the COBOL computer language came out. This release added many new features, such as national language support, floating point support, XML generation and phrasing, and much more. The COBOL language is the primary language that has automated businesses and solving business problems is exactly what it does.




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