Re: [open-cobol-list] The minimal program

[John R. Culleton]

On Monday 03 April 2006 09:17, Roger While wrote:
> Bill, correct me if I am wrong.
> It would appear that the absolute minimal
> compilable program consists of the one-liner :
>   PROGRAM-ID. MYPROG.
>
> ie. A program or module with entry point "MYPROG"
> that does nothing.
>
> MF compiles this.
> If this is allowed, we need a small fix in OC.
> (And if not, we still need a fix for OC)
>
> Roger

I have read of a move by the hyperactive standard fiddlers to 
make the entire IDENTIFICATION DIVISION optional. If that is done
then the minimal program would have no statements at all. What
nonsense!

In the name of common sense I would state that the minimal
program consists of the four DIVISION headers, "PROGRAM-ID.
programname." a single paragraph header, and a STOP RUN statement. 

COBOL is an English-like self-documenting program aimed at
business applications, as in "Common Business Oriented Language."
It is not an exercise in programming minimalism. It has a fixed
framework of divisions, sections and statements designed to
provide an expected and hence understandable structure for the
code of each program.  We had enough of the obscurationist  
kind of nonsense back in the sixties, with a language
mercifully long forgotten where the afficianados tried to outdo
each other in writing totally unreadable "one-liners." 

I judge COBOL compilers by my own minimalist standard. "Is a
program that I, (or any journeyman COBOL programmer) am likely to
write in implementation of a practical business application,
going to compile and to execute as expected?  

All the rest is fluff.
-- 
John Culleton
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