1.      An acronym that stands for Common Business-Oriented Language

2.      Is a third generation programming language (3GL)

3.      Also one of the oldest programming languages that is still in use today.

4.      Its primary use is in the fields of business, finance, and administrative systems for various companies and governments. It also is responsible for some of the back end computing behind online financial transaction and payroll services.

5.      Formulated by the Short Range Committee, an assortment of computer manufacturer and government agency officials, as a solution for a short range look at common business language.

6.      It was developed by an association of computer scientists named the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL) in 1959. Since its conception, like every programming language, COBOL has received several revisions, and gone through several forms: COBOL 60, (ANS) COBOL-68, (ANS) COBOL-74, (ANS) COBOL-85, and (ANS) COBOL 2002.

1. COBOL is meant to be easily understood by the average computer user. Its syntax is very mundane and the concept behind each program is fairly easy to grasp.