Look for help getting started

1

I was hoping someone could help me get started on the path to learning COBOL.

Full disclosure, I am NOT a programmer at all. I’m fairly computer competent but have never learned any programming. I have gathered that there is an ongoing need for COBOL programmers and I thought it’d be something I could learn over the next year or two.

There seems to be a good number of paid resources and a variety of free stuff, but I have no idea where to start.

Anyone up for taking me under their wing for a bit? I really appreciate any advice!

2

You can download GnuCOBOL or OpenCOBOL and install it. It gives you an environment that is pretty much compatible with any other COBOL compiler. Some years ago I coded this up:

to show Linux guys how COBOL is usually written. It’s a basic menu-driven questionaire that spits out a block of Geekcode. You can alter it or use it as a base to do similar things. A pretty decent way to get started.