Term Paper on "Cobol: Third Generation Programming"

Term Paper 18 pages (4692 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

COBOL: Overview of a third generation programming language

Many programming languages exist. The first programming languages, or first generation languages were utilized primarily by scientists and engineers to carry out complex programming functions. With modern businesses conducting operations on a global level, interacting with one another in increasingly complex ways, programmers realized the need for a more intuitive language, one that business enterprises could easily integrate to streamline processes. While not perfect, COBOL does have its historical share of ups and downs, today this complex yet "natural" language fulfills the very needs commercial enterprises have had for years. A detailed overview of its utility, strengths and weakness is provided in this paper. A comprehensive review of the literature and criticisms of COBOL is also provided for review and commentary.

Chapter 1 - Introduction to COBOL

Chapter 2 - Further Define Topic of Paper

Chapter 3 - COBOL and Organizational Goals

Features Unique to COBOL

COBOL's Support of Specific Organizations

Summary

Chapter 4 - Closing

Criticisms

Bibliography

Chapter 1 - Introduction to COBOL

This paper discusses COBOL, a third generation programming language, one many consider a "die-hard" language. COBOL is a third generation language, more complex than its earlier first and second-generation predecessors. One distinguishing feature of COBOL is that it is one of the few "natural" programming languages. Meaning, COBOL is designed for use with the natural English language. This makes COBOL, unlike many of its predecessor, more readily accessible for a wider range of applications, especially within commercial enterprises.

While many programming languages have been designed by scientists or engineers to handle complex data analysis, COBOL is capable of the same, but does so in a much more intuitive or "natural" way. For this reason, many businesses and commercial enterprises are fond of COBOL, with more than three quarters of all businesses in all fields, including manufacturing, financial and other areas, using COBOL continuously to produce user-friendly reports and maximize interconnectivity in organizations.

It's ease of use, despite some obvious limitations, will likely encourage businesses to continue to use this application for many years to come. To highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this programming language, this paper provides a detailed overview of COBOL. It also compares the functionality of COBOL to other common applications. Through detailed review and comparison, one can easily see why COBOL, despite its faults, remains the primary language used by ordinary commercial enterprises.

Included in this paper is a brief history of the language, a description and explanation of its features, and comparison of the language to other third generation programming languages. There are many other programming languages available, these include: Ada, ALGOL 68, BASIC, C++, C, Fortran, JavaScript and others (Fischer, et al., 1995). While many of these are static and safe as Fortran, and others dynamic like JavaScript, many are also static and weak, especially earlier generation programming language like BASIC and C (Zhu, 2001; Fischer, et al., 1995). It is important to review some of these languages, and the faults associated with first generation computer programming languages, to understand why COBOL remains among the top-ranking computer programming platforms for commercial enterprises today. As COBOL continues to work with ANSII to develop better standards for its applications, it is likely the programming application will become more stable. It is also likely COBOL will be able to produce even greater functionality and provide organizations the opportunity to function more efficiently, without having to understand the complexities often involved in utilizing third and even fourth generation computer programming languages.

We begin with a more in-depth analysis of the potential advantages and drawback of COBOL in the commercial environment. Following this, a detailed synopsis of the history and application of COBOL in its many forms throughout history. Lastly, the paper sums the research and provides a prediction for the utility of COBOL in the upcoming decades.

Chapter 2 - Further Define Topic of Paper

COBOL is not the first third generation language, but it remains one of the more popular. This is because it is more intuitive and useful than many other high-level programming languages. While many languages have more stable and flexible features, COBOL will always remain popular because it provides users the ability to utilize a high level programming tools to perform complex business processes, without much complication, and without much error.

Since COBOL is still a prominent programming language, this section compares some of COBOL's strengths and weaknesses to typical organizational needs. This section does not probe in detail into all of these strengths and weaknesses as these are provided more comprehensively in chapters 3 and chapter 4. Many people question COBOL's utility for modern-day business applications (Fischer, et al., 1995). This is due in part because of the rigidity of some of COBOL's capabilities, and the many changes and alterations COBOL has experienced in recent years.

However, one can easily counter that these changes resulted in an improved high-level language, one that is increasingly becoming better at analyzing and interpreting the needs of businesses no matter their area of expertise. While COBOL is still subject to some error, it has advanced significantly in recent years in response to the growing demands placed on it by commercial enterprises. Whereas in times of old many computer languages were developed at the scientific and engineering levels, COBOL is one of the few that actually has greater functionality if for no other reason than it is more intuitive to use than other languages. This is perhaps, why COBOL remains one of the more popular programming applications or languages, despite any perceived faults.

All computers must use language programs to receive instructions and produce binary notation and results (Columbia, 2004). High-level languages, including COBOL, were developed to enable programmers to ignore many details of a computer's actual hardware, and instead focus on creating a more "natural" language for programming, one that would allow programmers the ability to use syntax, rules and other features of programming in a simple way to avoid errors, which ultimately create "bugs" in programming systems (Columbia, 2004, p. 38811). Natural languages like COBOL are designed especially for complex business functions, in a manner that allows businesses to solve problems (Columbia, 2004). The first high-level language and still a popular one, Fortran, was developed more for engineers and other scientists; soon the programming community however, realized how important it would be to develop a common language, COBOL, intended not for scientific or engineering purposes but instead for more commercial or business applications (Columbia, 2004, p. 38811). For this reason COBOL remains one of the more popular high-level languages.

What are the benefits of a common language? For one, less training is involved (Jacko & Sears, 2003). One must acknowledge the benefits of using an intuitive programming language. Prior to the creation and widespread use of COBOL, much of what was offered related to programming languages was too complex in nature. Rather than enable greater efficiency, former languages necessitated interpretation by skilled researchers, scientists or engineers.

However, most modern commercial enterprises also now need intuitive and complex programming languages. Languages like COBOL, which allow them to integrate data analysis and interpret information throughout the organization and among business units in a more streamlined and intuitive manner. The advent of the World Wide Web has also increased the need for businesses to utilize programming languages that allow more intuitive and self-serving applications that allow transfer of data across the Web without the risk for viral infection or leak of potentially confidential information. Also of concern among modern enterprises is the concern for error. COBOL is one program that while initially filled with defects, has been continually updated to meet new and every more stringent technical guidelines and standards, including those developed by ANSII.

Other high-level languages including BASIC were developed, but were used more as an educational tool for students interested in learning more about programming languages especially during the early 1970s (Columbia, 2004). Other languages widely used as "general-purpose" languages include C++ and C; many of these languages are popular because they are able to deal with the complexities associated with object-oriented programming, something COBOL is also capable of addressing, with fewer errors (Columbia, 2004). The need for such object-oriented languages came about as programmers began realizing they needed to write languages free of common syntax and programming errors that they could easily download by or through the World Wide Web, without introducing problematic viruses or other contaminants into the commercial enterprise (Columbia, 2004; Jacko & Sears, 2003). One of the advantages of using object-oriented applications, including COBOL and similar programs like JAVA is they enable individuals to create dynamic rather than static web pages capable of many multimedia purposes or functions, something consumers and commercial enterprises increasingly demand in today's complex market (Jacko & Sears, 2003).

It can be challenging for businesses, especially commercial enterprises, to distinguish between the many benefits and disadvantages of all programming languages today. Even among high-level applications, there are dozens of languages a business can choose from. One… READ MORE

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