Cobol programming standards

COBOL Programming Standard

Generic Baseline for GnuCOBOL + PostgreSQL Projects

Version 1.0  |  2026  |  AI Lab

Derived from: pgcobol project artefacts, GnuCOBOL Programmer's Guide, Broadcom COBOL Coding Standards, MainframeMaster best practices.

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Primes system Design | Cobol and PostgreSQL

Contents

1. 1. Purpose and Scope
2. 2. Source-Code Layout
3. 3. Comment Standards
4. 4. Naming Conventions
5. 5. Program Structure
6. 6. Embedded SQL Standards (GixSQL / EXEC SQL)
7. 7. Error Handling
8. 8. Data Definition Rules
9. 9. Output Formatting Rules
10. 10. Configuration and Credentials
11. 11. Build and Compilation
12. 12. Common Defect Patterns (Lessons from pgcobol)
13. Appendix A — Approved Abbreviations

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COBOL Programming Standard v1.0

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Primes system Design | Cobol and PostgreSQL