Publisher's Synopsis
This book is designed as a reference book and programming manual for the 198X ANSI and ISO COBOL standards. It is not an introductory book for trainee programmers, but is intended as a basis for more advanced courses or for private study by people wishing to know more about the language.;The present book describes the language of the new 1985 standard and is not orientated towards any particular implementation. The new standard has introduced many important extensions to COBOL, and they are all described in detail in the present volume. Features retained from the previous standard are also described.;The book does not attempt to define standard COBOL. The prescriptions of the formal standards should always be taken as paramount. Details of how COBOL is developed and standardized are given, with other information, in the appendices.
