Questions tagged [cobol]
The cobol tag has no usage guidance.
8
questions
14
votes
1answer
2k views
What is a good COBOL specification to target when aiming to support ~75% or more of mainframe and minicomputer software bases?
There are many specifications for COBOL due to its long history. If one wanted to write software that would be acceptable for use in about 75% or more of existing COBOL projects on mainframes or ...
19
votes
4answers
4k views
Did COBOL have an English-like "or" operator?
This answer made me wonder:
Did COBOL also handle that other newbie mistake, allowing one to write
if a == 'orange' or 'apple' or 'banana'
instead of
if a == 'orange' or a == 'apple' or a == 'banana'
...
1
vote
0answers
100 views
Record definitions with IBM COBOL and IMS
A common technology stack for line of business applications in the sixties and seventies was IBM COBOL with the IMS database. I'm curious about how the combination handled record definitions.
COBOL ...
21
votes
7answers
4k views
What was the most critical supporting software for COBOL on IBM mainframes?
Over the past half-century, one of the largest trends in the computer industry has been the replacement of mainframes by microcomputers. Not total by any means – there are still many mainframes in ...
0
votes
1answer
246 views
Will there have to be a concerted effort to train new developers for legacy systems? [closed]
If we consider legacy systems that are still crucial to modern life, say for instance ATM infrastructure. If they have been coded with old languages like Cobol, for instance, would there have to be an ...
5
votes
2answers
395 views
COBOL and processing card files directly
COBOL was the first exercise in design of a programming language by a committee of representatives from competing companies. irrespective of one's opinion of the technical quality of the end result, ...
4
votes
1answer
217 views
What was machine-specific about Honeywell FACT?
While COBOL was the first highly successful business-oriented programming language, several business-oriented languages were designed before it in the late fifties, including Honeywell-800 Business ...
46
votes
2answers
6k views
What did the DoD think Fortran lacked?
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL the project to design COBOL began when
On 28 and 29 May 1959 (exactly one year after the Zürich ALGOL 58 meeting), a meeting was held at the Pentagon ...