COMTRAN (COMmercial TRANslator) is a programming language which served as the forerunner to the COBOL language. Developed by Bob Bemer, in 1957, the language featured the first programming language element known as the Picture Clause. Computer code (HTML with JavaScript) in a tool that uses syntax highlighting (colors) to help the developer see the purpose of each piece of code. ... COBOL is a third-generation programming language. ... Bob Bemer (Robert William Bemer February 8, 1920-June 22, 2004) was a computer scientist best known for his work at IBM during the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Picture Clause
The Picture Clause element defines the length of any given datum, much like a dictionary defines words. In particular the Picture Clause determines whether the datum contains letters and numbers, and other characteristics of the data, including format, size, and type.