Rating:  - I really didn't want to buy this book
First off, let me say that I did not want to buy this book. No one that has ever purchased this book because they actually wanted to. It's not because it is a bad book, but because it's about COBOL. COBOL is one of the very first high-level programming languages ever invented, and back in its day (1959), I'm sure it was pretty darn amazing. Good COBOL programmers should be either revered or pitied. Today, there are better (meaning easier) languages available to developers. Why did I buy the book? Because I needed to learn COBOL for my job while we migrate data away from a COBOL based application. The book claims to be "written in a clear, easy to follow format... designed to help you learn COBOL as quickly as possible." This is good, because COBOL is probably the least clear and least easy to follow language I have used, rivaled only by RPG.
While I do recommend having some programming experience before reading this book and working with COBOL, I would say that this book does a good job of teaching the critical basics of the COBOL language. Once criticism that I have about this book is that is a cheerleader for the COBOL language. Excerpts such as this one here will make most experienced programmers shudder:
"COBOL is ideally suited to business processing. Business processing involves data collection, validation, updating, and reporting. The types of data processed are frequently numbers and amounts. No other computer language is as well equipped to excel at this type of processing."
Another example:
"As a COBOL programmer, I can testify to the fact that anyone can look at a section of a COBOL program and see exactly what is happening."
This cheerleading in the beginning of the book really obfuscates the fact that COBOL is a very complex language with an even more complex syntax that many would describe as tedious. In truth, the material presented is no where near as easy as these passages would lead the reader to believe. Coding in COBOL is actually pretty hard compared to most modern programming languages but the book does a pretty good job of explaining the language.
I recommend this book to anyone who suddenly finds themselves required to work with older business systems that rely on COBOL and you have no one to help teach you. I still stumble upon a lot of situations that the book didn't explicitly prepare me for, but it gets me by.
Rating:  - SAMS - Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours
I TRIED to install the programs that are on the CD, and the problems began, that was about 6:00, at 9:30, I finally gave up and did an XP Restore, YES it was that bad.
During the installation a dialog box asked for the serial number on the CD. There wasn't ANY number, not on the CD, not on the CD-holder, not in the READ-MEs, NO NUMBER.
So, I did an uninstall, that didn't work.
When I rebooted, a MS NOTEPAD error occurred and about 4-5-6 programs opened and cascade-failed. The messages were "insufficient memory".
I couldn't access GOOGLE, to send an e-mail.
NOW, after an XP Restore, the PC seems to be back to normal.
I HATE THIS CD-BOOK combination.
For me, NOTHING worked.
Now that I can access GOOGLE again, I'm going to e-mail "SAMS" and RANT.
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I hope you don't have the same experience as I did.
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Do a System Back-up BEFORE trying to install the JUNK on the CD.
G. H. Montesano, WA
Rating: - Amazon Service Continues Its Quality
The subject of the book, Sams Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours, is not popular enough for even the largest of the local bookstores to carry. I found several books on COBOL at Amazon and picked the Sams book because I have experience with other titles from the Sams line.
Amazon got the book to me within a couple of days.
What else is there to say, good book backed by good service.
Rating:  - Good examples with complicated programs
Hi friends,
I have just read some of its sample pages. Programs are really good with easy to understand approach. However, i think this is for beginners.
Rating: - Good Book for beginners
I am 16 years old. Several of my family members are programmers, most of them use COBOL. With this book, and a little help from my family I am learning COBOL. I like the fact that I can use the computer, compile and execute exercises right from the first lesson. I am on chapter seven and having a lot of fun. I also think I am learning COBOL very well. My tutor says he is pleased with the book and with my progress. We recommend it to anyone who wants to learn COBOL even without experience in a previous programming language.
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