COBOL Tutorial : Learn COBOL in One Video

COBOL runs the US Financial System, Social Security Administration, Department of Defense, Internal Revenue Service, the Majority of State Financial / Unemployment Systems and Numerous other Critical Systems. Currently there is a critical need to create more COBOL Programmers.

In this one video I did my best to cover what you'd learn about COBOL in a standard 500 page book. If there is a demand for more videos I will make them here for free.

I provide a Table of Contents you can use to jump to exactly what you'd like to learn. I hope in some small way I'm able to help people during the current crisis with this video.

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0:00 - Intro
00:25 - Why is it Important
01:35 - File Format
02:26 - Main Divisions
02:58 - Identification Division
03:20 - Environment Division
03:34 - Data Division
04:22 - Variables / Picture / Data
05:57 - Group Item / Hierarchal
07:33 - Constants
07:47 - Figurative Constants
07:55 - Comment
08:54 - Procedure Division
09:00 - Print to Screen
09:25 - Accept Input
09:56 - Stop Run
10:13 - Compile / Run
10:50 - Assign Values
11:20 - Math / Compute
13:42 - Variables / Datatypes
15:45 - Group Item
20:17 - Figurative Constants
21:34 - Math Functions
23:46 - Compute
25:14 - Data Classification
25:45 - Thru / Ranges
26:40 - Boolean
27:20 - Multiple Values
28:52 - If / Else
30:30 - Logical / Conditional Operators
33:19 - Classification
34:10 - Built In Classification
34:55 - Toggle Values
36:20 - Evaluate
39:27 - Paragraphs
42:57 - Subroutines / Linkage
44:25 - Call
45:43 - While
47:08 - For / Varying
48:37 - Edited Pictures
52:55 - Decimal Arithmetic
55:39 - String Functions
57:35 - Join Strings
1:02:15 - Split String
1:03:17 - Define Write to File
1:07:54 - Open File
1:09:01 - Write to File
1:09:45 - Append to File
1:11:40 - Read File
1:13:45 - Create Reports
1:16:25 - Filler
1:28:44 - Indexed Files
1:31:12 - Access Data Randomly
1:35:03 - Save Record
1:36:40 - Delete Record
1:37:45 - Update Record
1:40:30 - Get Record
1:44:03 - Tables
1:46:00 - Multidimensional Tables
1:47:46 - Index Tables
1:51:33 - Search Tables
1:53:05 - Prefill Tables
1:54:10 - Redefine
1:56:34 - String to Float
1:59:38 - Sort Records
2:03:55 - Merge Files
2:07:38 - Install Windows
2:12:13 - Install MacOS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
2:07:38 : Install Windows
2:12:13 : Install MacOS
00:25 : Why is it Important
01:35 : File Format
02:26 : Main Divisions
02:58 : Identification Division
03:20 : Environment Division
03:34 : Data Division
04:22 : Variables / Picture / Data
05:57 : Group Item / Hierarchal
07:33 : Constants
07:47 : Figurative Constants
07:55 : Comment
08:54 : Procedure Division
09:00 : Print to Screen
09:25 : Accept Input
09:56 : Stop Run
10:13 : Compile / Run
10:50 : Assign Values
11:20 : Math / Compute
13:42 : Variables / Datatypes
15:45 : Group Item
20:17 : Figurative Constants
21:34 : Math Functions
23:46 : Compute
25:14 : Data Classification
25:45 : Thru / Ranges
26:40 : Boolean
27:20 : Multiple Values
28:52 : If / Else
30:30 : Logical / Conditional Operators
33:19 : Classification
34:10 : Built In Classification
34:55 : Toggle Values
36:20 : Evaluate
39:27 : Paragraphs
42:57 : Subroutines / Linkage
44:25 : Call
45:43 : While
47:08 : For / Varying
48:37 : Edited Pictures
52:55 : Decimal Arithmetic
55:39 : String Functions
57:35 : Join Strings
1:02:15 : Split String
1:03:17 : Define Write to File
1:07:54 : Open File
1:09:01 : Write to File
1:09:45 : Append to File
1:11:40 : Read File
1:13:45 : Create Reports
1:16:25 : Filler
1:28:44 : Indexed Files
1:31:12 : Access Data Randomly
1:35:03 : Save Record
1:36:40 : Delete Record
1:37:45 : Update Record
1:40:30 : Get Record
1:44:03 : Tables
1:46:00 : Multidimensional Tables
1:47:46 : Index Tables
1:51:33 : Search Tables
1:53:05 : Prefill Tables
1:54:10 : Redefine
1:56:34 : String to Float
1:59:38 : Sort Records
2:03:55 : Merge Files
2:07:38 : Install Windows
2:12:13 : Install MacOS

[robertkopp]

Gosh. I have forgotten COBOL. First coded with this in the last century, using punched cards, before internet, before PCs. Now - I am 70+ years old. Dusting off the books...

[bakr]

derek, I don't remember when I first encountered your python tutorials, but you made me love programming and choose to shift career completely. So thank you.

[cassandraedmond]

Hi Derek this was a great class. I'm old-school COBOL and needed a refresher course. This was exactly what I needed!!! Excellent stuff!

[aavalos]

I was an instructor for this school in El Salvador in 1992-1995 We were teaching COBOL/86 oriented to business. We were teaching students how to build data management systems to manage databases and how to build GUI. I now program in other langage, mainly in Python. Your video is excellent. I wish there was a job openning in my area for COBOL programmers or a work from home.

[vsuperbhat]

I never imagined I'll see a COBOL Tutorial in this channel one day 😄 Strange times.

[pylewastaken]

Derek: breathes
New Jersey: *WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN*

[stasha]

Thank you for this video! I just started learning COBOL. I have been told by many people that this is a good thing to pick up.

[trevorweir]

Derek, I have no idea how you learn all these languages so quickly, but Kudos, bro. You are a wizard of the highest order. Love your Python and HTML/CSS/Bootstrap stuff.

[UmAndUh]

I use to love COBOL. Everyone thought I was crazy. Think I'll watch this as a refresher.

[DeepakSharma_youtube]

I've worked with COBOL around 1988-1992 time frame, converting MF-COBOL and RM-COBOL to Pro*COBOL (Oracle). I have a requirement currently that's related to getting Mainframe COBOL data into Hadoop, and that's why I started exploring the language once again. Great coverage so far (25 mins into it)!

[EvilSandwich]

Old guard COBOL programmers always catch me off guard. I'm not used to the elderly not only being computer literate, running circles around me in terms of computer skill.

I also ran into that when I started learning Assembly. The old timers from the days of Commodore, Apple and Acorn are very much still active in the 6502 community. And they are coding BEASTS, even in their 60s and 70s.

[sagejpc]

I just got a job with a government office and have to learn cobol asap. Thank you so much for providing this tool to all of us!

[cdnsilverdaddy]

Brings back so many memories.. still love COBOL.. underrated

[mislavalsim]

Sure! Here's a polished version of your comment:

Great video! It took me a few days to work through everything, but I successfully followed along and now have 19 little COBOL programs. Thank you for the clear explanations—this was my first experience with COBOL, and I was surprised to learn how arrays/tables are handled without using brackets. Much appreciated!

[olgazimnyakova]

Yes, please cover advanced SQL with advanced finance calculations, Pivot/Unpivot, Query Builder, In-line Views, and any advanced queries you wish to cover.

[ethercreatures]

Outstanding work with this tutorial. Got more out of this than I did in hours of watching others. PERL, python, shell, PHP, PowerShell have been my bread and butter, but hoping for a good outcome in an Analyst I interview next week where cobol, jcl, DB2, and CICS among other related topics are on the table. Never touched cobol, but I am confident enough to demonstrate I can swim in this environment now. Thank you Derek!

[phillipdunham]

Thank you so much for making this. I am a new programmer and I am starting my first job in the field soon and they wanted me to learn COBOL on my own before starting. This has been very useful to me, and believe me, I'm watching this many times.

[diamondtimber]

I LOVED coding Cobol! I'm here as a refresher...my hope is to one day soon contract with various companies still using it and be there to help them decipher/maintain their legacy systems. I miss it!

[techsimplified]

At 01:57:00 around you asked for a feedback, so I'm writing, your tutorial is very nice, thank you Derek