COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe

This book is a great resource for the beginning or intermediate Cobol programmer. Very clear explanations and abundant examples aid understanding. The authors favor a "hands on" approach which encourages the reader to try out the concepts in each chapter. The example code is included on the CD (along with the input files for the exercises) which is a great timesaver.The authors are careful about pointing out differences between Cobol-85 and Cobol-74 as they arise. While this may seem to be a minor point with the advent of the latest Cobol standard, it is helpful to those who work with older systems that are not fully Cobol-85 compliant. The Fujitsu Cobol environment comes along with the book. The Fujitsu compiler is a big improvement over the DOS-based compiler and editor that came with the second edition. An appendix provides some step-by-step examples to help the reader get up to speed with the compiler.The book is weighted more towards micro computers - if you are working in a mainframe environment, you will probably want to find additional references on JCL, CICS, etc.The book may not be the best choice for someone who has no previous programming experience, but for readers who have some background in programming (in any language) and are interested in learning Cobol, this book & compiler set is the best resource I've seen for Cobol at this level. I strongly recommend it.

I first had the second edition of this book, and I bought the third edition as soon as I heard it was out. It has the most complete sample programs of any COBOL text I've seen. I found code examples for every concept or method introduced. The accompanying software makes COBOL projects almost fun, giving you a GUI-like workspace as opposed to SEU on the AS400 (I teach on that). I recommend this book to all my students who are serious about COBOL.

I teach programming at the university level and have recently switched to this publication as the main text for my classes. The book provides fantastic examples and explains concepts at a level a beginning programmer can understand. As with any text, the solutions are available in the instructor's manual (available from the publisher). The extensive support provided by the publisher's web site and by the authors themselves is unmatched. As this book was written to be instructive, it lacks somewhat as a reference guide, but is still a valuable resource for any junior programmer.

I HAVE FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE VERY INFORMATIVE. MY QUESTION IS THIS. THE BOOK I PURCHASED FROM SCHOOL CAME WITH THE MICROSOFT COBOL COMPILER SOFTWARE. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS THIS SOFTWARE THE SAME AS THE OTHER PERSONAL COBOL MICROSOFT SOFTWARE?

Excellent resource for the novice or intermediate Cobol programmer. Very clear explanations and abundant examples aid understanding. The authors favor a "hands on" approach which encourages the reader to try out the concepts in each chapter. The authors are careful about pointing out differences between Cobol-85 and Cobol-74 as they arise. While this may seem to be a minor point so soon before the release of Cobol-9x, it is helpful to those who work with older systems that are not fully Cobol-85 compliant. The included disks contain the input files for the programming exercises (a time-saver for students) and a Cobol compiler and editor for DOS. The compiler is not a serious competitor to any commercial compiler, but it is sufficient for a student or someone just starting out in Cobol. This book/disk set is the best resource I've seen for Cobol at this level. I strongly recommend it