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COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) was designed in 1959 by a committee chaired by Grace Hopper. The goal: a programming language readable by managers. The result: programs that look like business letters.

       IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
       PROGRAM-ID. HELLO.
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           DISPLAY "Hello, COBOL!".
           STOP RUN.

Critical: column rules. In fixed-format COBOL (GnuCOBOL's default):

• Columns 1-6: line numbers (often blank)
• Column 7: comment marker (* for comment line)
• Columns 8-11: Area A — division/section/paragraph names
• Columns 12-72: Area B — actual code

The leading 7 spaces matter. Get them wrong and the compiler errors.

Divisions (mandatory order):

• IDENTIFICATION — names the program
• ENVIRONMENT — system info (often empty)
• DATA — variable declarations
• PROCEDURE — the actual code

Statements end with . (period). Most are written in upper case by convention.