Cobol

Delfin, Daniel D.

Programming Language (COBOL)

* Names (Identifiers and Keywords)

COBOL identifiers are 1-30 alphanumeric characters, at least one of which must be non-numeric. In certain contexts it is permissible to use a totally numeric identifier; however, that usage is discouraged. Hyphens may be included in an identifier anywhere except the first of last character.

* Maximum length? Has a rather sparse complement of reserved words- approximately 400.

* Are connector character allowed? Yes

* Are names case sensitive? Yes

* Are special words reserved words or keywords? Special words are Reserved words

* Data Types

Character- PICX(20)

Edited character- PIC X99BAXX

Numeric fixed-point binary- PIC S999V99

Numeric fixed-point packed decimal- PIC S999V99 PACKED-DECIMAL

Numeric fixed-point zoned decimal- PIC S999V99 [USAGE DISPLAY]

Numeric floating-point- PIC S9V999ES99

Edited numeric- PIC +Z,ZZ9.99

Group (record)-01 CUST-NAME.

  05 CUST-LAST PIC X(20).

  05 CUST-FIRST PIC X(20).

Table(array)-OCCURS 12 TIMES

Variable-length table- OCCURS 0 to 12 TIMES DEPENDING ON CUST-COUNT

Renames (variant or union data)-66 RAW-RECORD RENAMES CUST-RECORD

Condition name- 88 IS-RETIRED-AGE VALUES 65 THRU 150

Array index- [USAGE] INDEX

* Categories of Variables by lifetime- dynamic variable

* Type Checking

For COBOL to interoperate with managed code in other languages, the COBOL must use data types that are compatible with those languages.

The Common Language Specification (CLS) defines a set of basic language features,...