Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours [Paperback]

Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours teaches the basics of COBOL programming in 24 step-by-step lessons. Each lesson builds on the previous one providing a solid foundation in COBOL programming concepts and techniques. Coupled with the source code and the compiler available from Fujitsu, this hands-on guide is the easiest, fastest way to begin creating standard COBOL compliant code. Business professionals and programmers from other languages will find this hands-on, task-oriented tutorial extremely useful for learning the essential features and concepts of COBOL programming. Writing a program can be a complex task. Concentrating on one development tool guides you to good results every time. There will be no programs that will not compile!

Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours - from my perspective
Thank you for stopping by Amazon.Com and for considering the purchase of my book. Let me take a momemt to tell you about the approach I took in the book, and why this COBOL book is different from other available titles. COBOL has been around for a long time. Many other titles try to teach you the way COBOL "was". I take a different tack. I help you learn COBOL as it "is". That means that I help you make use of all of the modern techniques and functions available in the latest accepted COBOL standard. (ANSI 85, with the '89 extensions). When writing the chapters, I consulted with students and teachers of COBOL. I concentrated on creating simple explanations for those areas of the language that were reported to be confusing, or difficult to grasp. COBOL makes an excellent first language. If you are confused by the cryptic coding of other languages, and are interested in a language that is more like English, then COBOL is for you! While geared toward the beginner, with little or no prior programming experience, experienced programmers, both COBOL and non-Cobol, can gain insight and knowledge from this title. If you have been using one of the "older" COBOL compilers, and want to learn how to use some of the "newer" features of standard COBOL, then this book can help you. I use a step by step approach. Each chapter builds on the next and reinforces the lessons already learned. The book contains everything you need to learn how to program in COBOL, and comes with a full functioning COBOL compiler provided by Fujitsu. Some people wonder why they should learn COBOL. Isn't it only used on Mainframes? COBOL is used on virtually every computing platform (including PC's) as you will find as you read the book and use the tools that are included on the CD. I really enjoyed writing the book, and I know you will enjoy reading it.

Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours teaches the basics of COBOL programming in 24 step-by-step lessons. Each lesson builds on the previous one providing a solid foundation in COBOL programming concepts and techniques. Coupled with the source code and the compiler available from Fujitsu, this hands-on guide is the easiest, fastest way to begin creating standard COBOL compliant code. Business professionals and programmers from other languages will find this hands-on, task-oriented tutorial extremely useful for learning the essential features and concepts of COBOL programming. Writing a program can be a complex task. Concentrating on one development tool guides you to good results every time. There will be no programs that will not compile!

Thane Hubbell has been a COBOL programmer for 15 years. Thane possesses a working knowledge on a variety of systems, from mainframes to minis to PCs. He has designed and developed full scale systems from the initial concept or idea to the deployed product. Through his role as a flight instructor, Thane has come to understand how people learn and think in high pressure situations – like in a programming environment . Initially a self taught programmer, with later education from IBM, Thane knows what it takes to learn a programming language on your own and how to teach one.