COBOL

COBOL is a third-generation programming language. Its name is an acronym, for COmmon Business Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments.

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The COBOL 2002 standard includes support for object-oriented programming and other modern language features. However, most of this article is based on COBOL 85.

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COBOL was initially created in 1959 by The Short Range Committee, one of three committees proposed at a meeting held at the Pentagon in May 1959, organized by Charles Phillips of the United States Department of Defense. 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. This sub-committee was made up of six individuals:

Third-generation programming language: A third generation language (3GL) is a programming language designed to be easier for a human to understand, including things like named variables....

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1959: 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It is also a song by The Sisters of Mercy on the album Floodland....