
Computer
software
Defense Department, to provide a language that was efficient at
file-handling and which could therefore be applied to business-
oriented applications such as stock control One of
its
earliest uses
was the control of inventory on US warships.
With its file-handling capabilities, COBOL quickly established
itself
as
the major language for processing business data, and it still
retains this lead in organizations which use large computers.
A COBOL program consists of four divisions. These are:
# The
identification
division, which contains information for the
users of the program, but which does not affect the processing
of the data ...