COBOL Programming

COBOL Programming

Introduction

Nowadays it is common practice to use a particular method of Structured Design before producing the code that will fulfil a particular function. No matter what Design Methodology is used, the whole object of using structured programming techniques is lost if the actual code produced is badly written. Not only must the code fulfil its desired function, and perform it efficiently, it must also be maintainable by all those programmers who follow in your wake. In the life of any program more time is spent on maintenance and enhancement than was ever spent on the original implementation.

COBOL is a flexible, free-format language that has very few internal constraints. It does not enforce any particular structural method, instead it allows the individual to adopt whatever structure their particular level of mentality can imagine.

The author of this document has over a decade's worth of experience in writing COBOL programs, and has encountered many different standards, each with its own set of strong as well as weak points. Some are too rigid and unnecessarily restrictive, while others are too flexible and open to misinterpretation. Those which do not encourage or promote efficient, readable and maintainable code have been discarded, and the remainder have been reviewed and modified in the light of experience, common sense and logic.

In those installations where programmers are allowed to adopt whatever style takes their fancy it is sometimes necessary to be familiar with an individual's style before it is possible to work on one of their programs. If a program has been worked on by several different programmers the mixture in styles can sometimes be very confusing. However, in those installations where proper standards and a common style of coding have been adopted it should be possible for any programmer to work on any program without knowing the identity of the previous authors.

This is known as "ego-less programming", and is something which this document is intended to encourage and promote. These standards are meant to show how code can be written in such a way as to be more readable, easier to understand and therefore more maintainable. A well-written program should read like a piece of prose, not a bunch of gobbledygook.

Contents