COBOL for the 21st Century

PREFACE

INTENDED AUDIENCE

This book is intended for readers with no previous programming or computer experience as well as for those with some background in the computing field. It has been specifically designed for use in college courses on COBOL both in two-year and four-year schools.

SIGNIFICANCE OF COBOL AS A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

For many years, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding COBOL as a viable programming language. Many people think that a language developed around 1960 is not likely to have the necessary components to make it operate efficiently and effectively on today's computers.

The issue became a critical one in the late 1990s when information technology professionals began to pay close attention to the fact that the year 2000 was fast approaching and COBOL code typically represented years as two digits (89 would be a short version for 1989). This two-digit designation would lose its validity in 2000 since it would not be clear whether a date was 20xx or 19xx. This problem threatened to wreak havoc on all current COBOL code and the "Y2K" (an abbreviation for the Year 2000) Problem became a major concern of companies and governments worldwide.

The impending crisis not only threatened to have serious ramifications in the business world, but it motivated many people to stockpile food since they feared that shipping dates on inventories would be impacted. Fortunately, the problem was corrected by current COBOL programmers and those enticed ...