The Environment Division describes the environment for which the program is written. It also specifies input-output control and describes special control techniques and hardware characteristics. The Environment Division follows the Identification Division. The general format defines the order of appearance of Environment Division entries. A contained program cannot include a configuration section.
The Identification Division must be the first division in every COBOL source program. It names the program and may include the date the program was written, the date of compilation, and other such documentary information about the program.
The format COBOL source programs using the COBOL reference format. Enter the line number, COBOL statement and procedure name in the positions stipulated in the reference format.
The traditional first example in any programming language is the “Hello world!” program.
