COBOL

COBOL 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. Many large financial institutions were developing new systems in the language as late as 2006, but most programming in COBOL today is purely to maintain existing applications. Programs are being moved to new platforms, rewritten in modern languages, or replaced with other software. Wikipedia

Created Year: 1959
Created by: United States Department of Defense
Developed by: CODASYLUnited States Department of DefenseAmerican National Standards Institute
Aliases: Common Business-Oriented Language, Cobol
File extensions: cbl, cob, cpy

Wikidata: Q131140

Influenced: ABAPAlgekCHILLDelta COBOLDIBOLPL/I

Influenced by: COMTRANFACTFLOW-MATIC

Programming paradigms: imperative programmingobject-oriented programmingprocedural programming

Language types: procedural programming languageimperative programming languageobject-based language

COBOL Influence Network

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Hello World in COBOL

       identification division.
       program-id. cobol.
       procedure division.
       main.
           display 'Hello World.' end-display.
           stop run.

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Latest data update: 2025-04-21