COBOL
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Acronym of common business-oriented language, perhaps coined by American computer scientist and aerospace engineer Bob Bemer.
Pronunciation
[edit]Proper noun
[edit]COBOL
- A programming language developed in the late 1950s, especially for business applications.
- 1973, Russell M. Armstrong, Modular Programming in COBOL[1], Wiley-Interscience:
- The problem in COBOL is that, while there exists a standard COBOL, ANS (American National Standard) COBOL, no computer manufacturer offers a COBOL compiler that is both full and pure ANS.
- 2025 February 17, David Gilbert, “No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits”, in WIRED[2], archived from the original on 19 February 2025:
- Because COBOL does not have a date type, some implementations rely instead on a system whereby all dates are coded to a reference point. The most commonly used is May 20, 1875, as this was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mètre.
- 2026 April 3, Matteo Wong, Lila Shroff, “Silicon Valley Is in a Frenzy Over Bots That Build Themselves”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic[3], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- American institutions are in many ways still adapting to the internet—the IRS still processes tax returns using COBOL, a programming language that was released in 1960.