Dan MacCormac

Research interests include ubiquitous computing, assistive technologies, cybersecurity and digital privacy.

Introduction

COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) is one of the oldest high-level programming languages, developed in the late 1950s. It was designed for business applications, making it particularly strong in handling large volumes of data and performing batch processing.

Despite its age, COBOL remains relevant due to the critical systems it supports. It is often called the “language that won’t die” because of its enduring presence in the tech world. This guide will walk you through setting up a COBOL development environment on a Windows system.

COBOL Overview

COBOL is known for its readability and ease of use, making it accessible to non-programmers. It is widely used in industries such as banking, insurance, and government, where legacy systems still rely on COBOL programs for critical operations.

Some key features of COBOL include:

  • English-Like Syntax: COBOL is designed to be highly readable, with a structure resembling natural English, making it easier for non-technical users to understand.

  • Business-Oriented: It is specifically tailored for business applications, excelling in handling large-scale data processing and transaction systems.

  • Portability: COBOL programs can run on various hardware and operating systems with minimal modifications, making it versatile.

  • Strong Numeric Capabilities: It provides robust support for precise arithmetic and handling of monetary data, crucial for banking and financial applications.

GnuCOBOL Compiler

GnuCOBOL (formerly known as OpenCOBOL) is an open-source COBOL compiler that supports modern COBOL standards and is actively maintained by the community. It provides a free and open-source toolchain for developing COBOL applications on various platforms, including Windows.

I’ve created an installer package for GnuCOBOL for Windows which you can download here.

The packages installs the compiler to the C:\Program Files\GnuCOBOL directory and sets the necessary environment variables.

It is based on the GnuCOBOL 3.2 BDB package by Arnold Trembley [1].

For other versions and platforms, you can visit the GnuCOBOL Project on SourceForge [2].

VSCode Extensions

If you use Visual Studio Code, you can install a COBOL extension to enable language support. Open Visual Studio Code, go to the Extensions tab, and search for “COBOL”. I recommend either COBOL by BitLang [3] or COBOL Language Support by Broadcom [4]. In my experience, the latter appears to provide better formatting support.

Example COBOL Program

Create hello.cob file with the example code shown below:

        IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
        PROGRAM-ID. HELLO-WORLD.   
        PROCEDURE DIVISION.
            DISPLAY 'Hello, World!'.
            STOP RUN.

How to Compile and Run

To compile and run the COBOL program, follow these steps:

1. Set environment variables

Open a terminal and run the the following command:

cob

This sets non persistent environment variables for GnuCOBOL.

Note: cob is an alias for set_env.cmd file in GNUCobol directory.

2. Compile program

Navigate to the directory containing your COBOL program and run the following command:

gcx hello.cob

3. Run the program

This will generate an executable file named hello.exe. Run the program by executing:

hello

You should see the output Hello, World! displayed on the console.

Conclusion

Setting up a COBOL development environment on Windows allows you to write, compile, and run COBOL programs for various business applications. With the GnuCOBOL compiler and Visual Studio Code extension, you can leverage the power of COBOL for modern development tasks. For futher information, refer to the GnuCOBOL documentation and resources (see Appendix) to explore more advanced features and capabilities of the language.

References

[1] GnuCOBOL/OpenCOBOL Downloads, Binaries, and Links - Arnold Trembley

[2] GnuCOBOL Project on SourceForge

[3] Visual Studio Marketplace - COBOL (BitLang)

[4] Visual Studio Marketplace - COBOL Language Support (Broadcom)

Appendix

Sample program with variables

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. SAMPLE-PROGRAM.
       DATA DIVISION.
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-NAME PIC X(20) VALUE 'John Doe'.
       01 WS-AGE PIC 99 VALUE 30.
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           DISPLAY 'Name: ' WS-NAME.
           DISPLAY 'Age: ' WS-AGE.
           STOP RUN.

Sample program with user input

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. READ-USER-INPUT.
       DATA DIVISION.
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-NAME PIC X(20).
       01 WS-AGE PIC 99.
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           DISPLAY 'Enter your name: '.
           ACCEPT WS-NAME.
           DISPLAY 'Enter your age: '.
           ACCEPT WS-AGE.
           DISPLAY 'Name: ' WS-NAME.
           DISPLAY 'Age: ' WS-AGE.
           STOP RUN.

Documentation

  • GNUCobol\STARTHERE.txt
  • GNUCobol\GnuCOBOL 3.2 Manual.pdf
  • GNUCobol\docs

Resources

Beginning COBOL for Programmers by Michael Coughlan (ISBN: 978-1430262534)

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