COBOL was developed in the late 1950's during the same period when FORTRAN and ALGOL were produced. The language was actually introduced in 1959 (after FORTRAN but before ALGOL). The development of COBOL was coordinated by a committee consisting mainly of US computer manufacturers. Its design was founded on earlier languages and ideas and thus, when it was introduced, it could not accurately be described as a wholly "new" language. From the time of its conception COBOL received strong support from the US department of defence, which is probably one of the reasons for its wide spread usage.
COBOL was designed for programming in the areas of finance and administration (data processing) and as such differs significantly from FORTRAN and ALGOL. It places considerable emphasis on data and its input/output (much more so than FORTRAN), while limiting language features necessary for calculation. The language statements have an English-like syntax, this is sometimes considered to be both an advantage (enhanced readability) and a disadvantage (verboseness).
Another distinguishing feature of COBOL is that it has not undergone the many changes that languages such as FORTRAN have undergone. The syntax was formalised very early on its development (1995), and an ANSI standard established in 1968. Since then the language has hardly changed. Some attempts have been made to take into account programming concepts such as structured programming and modularity, but unsuccessfully.
Created and maintained by Frans Coenen. Last updated 03 July 2001