COBOL

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zingCOBOL - A Beginners Guide to COBOL Programming Timothy R. P. Brown
Teach Yourself COBOL in 21 Days Mo Budlong
WebSphere Studio COBOL for Windows - Language Reference IBM
COBOL Programming Course University of Limerick
WebSphere Studio COBOL for Windows - Programming Guide IBM
HP COBOL II/XL Reference Manual Hewlett-Packard
     


Non-Book Resources

COBOL is a third-generation programming language, and one of the oldest programming languages still in active use. Its name is an acronym for Common Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments.

The COBOL 2002 standard includes support for object-oriented programming and other modern language features.

COBOL was initially created in 1959 by The Short Range Committee, one of three committees proposed at a meeting held at the Pentagon on May 28 and 29, 1959, organized by Charles Phillips of the United States Department of Defense (exactly one year after the Zürich ALGOL 58 meeting). The Short Range Committee was formed to recommend a short range approach to a common business language. It was made up of members representing six computer manufacturers and three government agencies. In particular, the six computer manufacturers were Burroughs Corporation, IBM, Minneapolis-Honeywell (Honeywell Labs), RCA, Sperry Rand, and Sylvania Electric Products. The three government agencies were the US Air Force, the David Taylor Model Basin, and the National Bureau of Standards (Now NIST). This committee was chaired by a member of the NBS. An Intermediate-Range Committee and a Long-Range Committee were proposed at the Pentagon meeting as well. However although the Intermediate Range Committee was formed, it was never operational; and the Long-Range Committee was never even formed. In the end a sub-committee of the Short Range Committee developed the specifications of the COBOL language.