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COBOL Fingers
Last Updated: February 21, 2014
Definition - What does COBOL Fingers mean?
COBOL fingers is a once-common term used to describe a fictional health condition caused by typing Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL) code into a computer.
COBOL fingers is not an actual disease. The basic idea behind the term is that COBOL code is considered verbose or excessive by many developers and programmers, leading to the tongue-in-cheek idea that writing in COBOL can wear down the fingers or cause various ergonomic problems.
Techopedia explains COBOL Fingers
COBOL is a language that was used extensively in past decades. While it is now rarely used for new projects, there is still a significant amount of COBOL out there.
New languages have improved the efficiency of typing code into computers. A basic look at simple COBOL programming shows how commands and other elements have a syntax that is relatively labor-intensive to type. For example, basic text output examples show the typing of various linear code sequences with numeric identifiers, as well as different divisions and references that are multiple characters in length. In contrast, popular modern languages like Java, C# or C have more modern syntax that many developers find more acceptable and versatile for modern use.
New languages have improved the efficiency of typing code into computers. A basic look at simple COBOL programming shows how commands and other elements have a syntax that is relatively labor-intensive to type. For example, basic text output examples show the typing of various linear code sequences with numeric identifiers, as well as different divisions and references that are multiple characters in length. In contrast, popular modern languages like Java, C# or C have more modern syntax that many developers find more acceptable and versatile for modern use.
