Rational Developer for System z
COBOL for Windows, Version 7.5, Programming Guide


How logic is divided in the PROCEDURE DIVISION

The PROCEDURE DIVISION of a program is divided into sections and paragraphs, which contain sentences, statements, and phrases.

Section
Logical subdivision of your processing logic.

A section has a section header and is optionally followed by one or more paragraphs.

A section can be the subject of a PERFORM statement. One type of section is for declaratives.

Paragraph
Subdivision of a section, procedure, or program.

A paragraph has a name followed by a period and zero or more sentences.

A paragraph can be the subject of a statement.

Sentence
Series of one or more COBOL statements that ends with a period.
Statement
Performs a defined step of COBOL processing, such as adding two numbers.

A statement is a valid combination of words, and begins with a COBOL verb. Statements are imperative (indicating unconditional action), conditional, or compiler-directing. Using explicit scope terminators instead of periods to show the logical end of a statement is preferred.

Phrase
A subdivision of a statement.

related concepts
Compiler-directing statements
Scope terminators
Imperative statements
Conditional statements
Declaratives

related references
PROCEDURE DIVISION structure (COBOL for Windows Language Reference)


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