COBOL language structure

Characters
The most basic and indivisible unit of the COBOL language is the character. The basic character set includes the letters of the Latin alphabet, digits, and special characters.
Character sets and code pages
A character set is a set of letters, numbers, special characters, and other elements used to represent information. The term code page refers to a coded character set.
Character-strings: COBOL words and literals
A character-string is a character or a sequence of contiguous characters that forms a COBOL word, a literal, a PICTURE character-string, or a comment-entry. A character-string is delimited by separators.
Separators
A separator is a character or a string of two or more contiguous characters that delimits character-strings.
Sections and paragraphs
Sections and paragraphs define a program. Sections and paragraphs are subdivided into sentences, statements, and entries.
Reference format
COBOL source text must be written in COBOL reference format.
Scope of names
A user-defined word names a data resource or a COBOL programming element. Examples of named data resources are a file, a data item, or a record. Examples of named programming elements are a program, a paragraph, a method, or a class definition.
Referencing data names, copy libraries, and PROCEDURE DIVISION names
References can be made to external and internal resources. References to data and procedures can be either explicit or implicit.
Transfer of control

Parent topic: Language reference