What is Picture: Definition and 415 Discussions

COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily used in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments. COBOL is still widely used in applications deployed on mainframe computers, such as large-scale batch and transaction processing jobs. However, due to its declining popularity and the retirement of experienced COBOL programmers, programs are being migrated to new platforms, rewritten in modern languages or replaced with software packages. Most programming in COBOL is now purely to maintain existing applications; however, many large financial institutions were still developing new systems in COBOL as late as 2006 due to the mainframe processing speed.COBOL was designed in 1959 by CODASYL and was partly based on the programming language FLOW-MATIC designed by Grace Hopper. It was created as part of a US Department of Defense effort to create a portable programming language for data processing. It was originally seen as a stopgap, but the Department of Defense promptly forced computer manufacturers to provide it, resulting in its widespread adoption. It was standardized in 1968 and has since been revised four times. Expansions include support for structured and object-oriented programming. The current standard is ISO/IEC 1989:2014.COBOL statements have an English-like syntax, which was designed to be self-documenting and highly readable. However, it is verbose and uses over 300 reserved words. In contrast with modern, succinct syntax like y = x;, COBOL has a more English-like syntax (in this case, MOVE x TO y).
COBOL code is split into four divisions (identification, environment, data, and procedure) containing a rigid hierarchy of sections, paragraphs and sentences. Lacking a large standard library, the standard specifies 43 statements, 87 functions and just one class.
Academic computer scientists were generally uninterested in business applications when COBOL was created and were not involved in its design; it was (effectively) designed from the ground up as a computer language for business, with an emphasis on inputs and outputs, whose only data types were numbers and strings of text.
COBOL has been criticized throughout its life for its verbosity, design process, and poor support for structured programming. These weaknesses result in monolithic, verbose (intended to be English-like) programs that are not easily comprehensible.

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  1. K

    Electromag. & Circuitcan't picture

    We just studied E.M. waves; May I assume that whenever we flip a switch, an E.M. wave is produced? -for example, flipping a light switch- If a wave is produced, how does it break off? We have a closed circuit. Does it break off & propogate near the Emf source? Ps. I am so so...
  2. S

    Is Saturn's Surface as Beautiful as it Looks in the Latest Cassini Image?

    Please check the latest Cassini image: http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/media/ir/2004/574_1058_2.png Oh, my god, nature is beautiful.
  3. R

    Does the location of an electron in a hydrogen atom depend on temperature?

    If you looked at a picture of where an electron would be likely to be found in a hydrogen atom, would the electron picture look the same regardless of temperature? Edit: would the electron have a definite distance from the nucleus at 0 K and not just a likely place to be found?
  4. tony873004

    Stargazing Picture of Jupiter's moons without a telescope

    I took a picture of Jupiter's moons without a telescope. This is from my 300 mm zoom lens on my Canon Digital Rebel: http://orbitsimulator.com/orbiter/jupiter.jpg
  5. U

    Neutrinos back into the picture?

    Hey, guys! I have exciting news about neutrinos. Neutrinos are fundamental particles that are neutral in charge and approximately the size of an electron. They come in three favors, and these flavors are: electron neutrion, muon neutrino, and tau neutrino. There symbols are...
  6. Crumbles

    Digital Picture Orbs: Explaining Unusual White Objects

    Does anybody have a logical explanation to what those little white things on digital pictures are? I figured they can't be dust on the camera lens because they come out in a different place of the photo even if 2 photos are taken one after each other. Anybody, any ideas?
  7. M

    Tsunami Picture: Found on Web | FunnyJunk

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  8. Ivan Seeking

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  9. wolram

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    {incorrect link deleted by Phobos - - see Andre's link} fantastic picture of venus, showing lava flows.
  10. Mk

    What does liquid helium look like?

    He I need a picture of liquid helium itself for my project on superconductors. I've looked all over but I can't find anything
  11. B

    Interpretation of a picture

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  12. V

    What Does the Picture with Four E's and Arrows Mean on a Science Blackboard?

    there is this scientist in front of a black board. and there is this picture with four e's and a 4 arrows and a squiggly line. i would really appreciate it if some 1 helped me! thank you very much. i tried to draw that picture. it is in this web page . but it is in the "science question"...
  13. V

    I need to find a picture. HELP

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  14. marcus

    Your picture of universe's timeline

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  15. marcus

    How you picture the expansion of space.

    Which of these comes closest to how you picture the expansion of space? As an explosion from a central point with galaxies flying away from the center of the explosion? As the 3D analog of the surface of a balloon? As the 3D analog of an infinite flat sheet of graph paper on which the...
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