<P>
COBOL is the COmmon Business-Oriented Language.
<BR>
It is a very old and stupid *(programming language). The kind of thing a sensible man wouldn't touch unless forced to. Because its syntax is so verbose, it makes the neophyte believe he actually understands programming better. But of course, what makes a good language is its semantics, not its syntax, and for actual programming, COBOL syntax gets in the way, while its semantics plain
suck.
</P>
<ul class="links">
<li>Apparently, Cobol still needs support these days, mostly for porting code out of it and for Y2K-related fixes.</li>
</ul>